Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin has always been fantastic at dealing with the press and spouting "Tomlinisms" to deflect from at best, curious decisions regarding the handling of his players, clock management and play-calling. Some of the fan base is growing restless with the long-time head coach as the only thing he is winning with regularity at this point in his career, is press conferences.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
The controversial Pittsburgh shock merchant, Mark Madden may have unearthed a significant crack in Tomlin’s portrait of a players coach. Madden promised a bombshell on Twitter Sunday evening that he claimed the entire Steelers media was keeping quiet (but it wasn't exactly a bombshell):
I know a Steelers story they just would not want me to tell. &the sad part is…the entire Steelers media knows it& is keeping it quiet.
— Mark Madden (@MarkMaddenX) November 28, 2022
Madden decided to release the information as part of his Random Steelers Thoughts column for 105.9 The X. The news involved a marginal Steelers fifth round draft pick who has been with the team since 2018 and has played almost exclusively on special teams for the last three seasons.
“There was a blowup between PR staff and scrub defender Marcus Allen because Allen insisted on loudly blasting music when the media was in the locker room doing interviews. That shows lack of leadership when a jabroni like Allen has to get put in his place by somebody besides a coach or player. Troy Polamalu used to pointedly turn down the music.”
The Steelers have maintained a winning culture for decades and dirty laundry has rarely escaped the locker room and made it into the media. However, it has happened more and more recently. Music has been a recurring theme over the last two seasons with the team. Chase Claypool brought it up last season as a way to improve morale on the team and was eviscerated publicly to cheers of his own team.
No modern coach in the NFL has been blessed with better player leadership than Tomlin. The Steelers have had Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Hines Ward, and Heath Miller just to name a few as veteran leaders in the Pittsburgh locker room. The glaring issue is that the Steelers young roster is bereft of veteran leaders who command respect, and the very weak coaching staff is being openly questioned by nearly everyone on offense.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Cam Heyward is the long-time captain of the defense, but he has often been at the center of training camp fights, and it makes you wonder what kind of leadership the organization is promoting. Maybe there is a reason that Heyward has never played in an AFC Championship. Ben Roethlisberger was a veteran presence, but teammates and the media incredibly sided with Antonio Brown during the public divorce and called him a bad leader.
TJ Watt, despite his production, does not seem to be a recognized vocal leader amongst his teammates, his play should automatically make him the public voice of the franchise. He is not the voice of the team, and it doesn’t appear that he or the organization is interested in thrusting him into the position. Instead, they thrust a leadership role upon Najee Harris, who held onto his position as the starting tailback by the skin of his teeth against an undrafted free agent who is now hurt. Harris is a second year pro who has endured a sophomore slump, but is not ready or deserving of team leader status.
The black and gold have serious issues that the organization has ignored privately since the former All-Pro WR Brown signed a second contract with the Steelers. The black and gold leadership has allowed Dick LeBeau to be disrespected to the point that Ryan Clark had to step in to confront Brown. They dumped Bruce Arians because he was too close to Roethlisberger, but was it really because Arians refused any input on offense?
PITTSBURGH - AUGUST 8: Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on from the sideline during a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Heinz Field on August 8, 2008 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Eagles 16-10. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh has not had a locker room in this kind of disarray in recent memory. This is a natural break point for a new coach in Pittsburgh. Chuck Noll held on until the organization forced him to change and after one more run, he walked away. Bill Cowher was an emotional coach who recognized he didn’t have the fire anymore and walked away. Art Rooney and especially his son Dan Rooney, never had to tolerate a locker room who was openly disrespectful because of the reverence they were both held in by the team leadership. Art Rooney II does not seem to generate the same love and respect from the current group.
The Steelers have not won a playoff game for half a decade. They are fielding the worst Steelers team in two decades, so is time for new voices to tell the current players what the Steeler Way is? The question is, with a young group, is it already too late?
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Is this the straw that breaks the back of the Tomlin mystique, or will it just be chalked up as a Mark Madden rant and swept under the rug? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
