Steelers' Mike Tomlin Didn't Want To Stay In Uncomfortable Situation With Jon Gruden In 2002

Mike Tomlin has been the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 16 years. Tomlin’s mentor and the person who hired him to be a coach in the NFL is Tony Dungy. Dungy was the Steelers’ defensive coordinator under Chuck Noll, who was Dungy's mentor. Tomlin’s roots go all the way back to the beginning of the Steelers’ unprecedented run of success.

Tomlin joined Ben Roethlisberger and Spencer T’eo on episode 23 of the Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger podcast. T’eo asked Tomlin how he felt about Coach Dungy’s exit and his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers transition to Jon Gruden:

“Uncomfortable,” Tomlin said candidly. “I didn’t want to be there, to be honest with you. As much as I love [John] Lynch and [Ronde] Barber and them man, Tony Dungy gave me my break in the NFL. He hired me at 28 as a secondary coach. I replaced Herm Edwards. Herm got the [New York] Jets job and they replaced him with me.”

Dungy had a great defensive mind and saw something in a young Tomlin, not unlike what Noll had seen in him. Noll had the luxury of coaching Dungy from 1977 to 1979 and knew that the former college quarterback turned defensive back was a special leader and nurtured it. Dungy recognized the qualities that make Tomlin a great leader immediately and hired him:

“The prospect of me not being able to go with him,” Tomlin observed. “Contractually held here [Tampa Bay], that thought never even crossed my mind. That’s what happened, it happened because of the strength of the unique men we were talking about. They had special players, and they weren’t going to disrupt that. All the defensive coaches, Monte Kiffin, Rod Marinelli, Joe Berry, and myself were held under contract.”

Tampa Bay decided to clean house after a 9-7 season in 2001, followed by a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles 31-9 in the Wild Card round. It wasn’t the first time that Dungy was part of an organization cleaning house. After the 1988 season, over Noll’s objections, Dungy was fired as the Steelers’ defensive coordinator. Noll had to stay behind with hand-selected coaches by ownership, just like Tomlin was forced to stay on without Dungy:

“We came with the job like furniture,” Tomlin mused. “I don’t even know if Coach Gruden was really interested in retaining us. We probably just came with the gig. I don’t know if he was excited about it or not, he was probably like who is this 28-year-old dude? We were kind of Motley Crew that came together, and we had instant success.”

The 2002 Bucs convincingly won Super Bowl XXXVII over the Oakland Raiders 48-21. The closest game they played in that postseason was a 27-10 win over the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. It was one of the most dominant playoff runs in NFL history. Tomlin was a big part of the success of that defense coaching Ronde Barber and John Lynch.

Steelers Legendary Chuck Noll And Hall Of Fame Coach Tony Dungy Shared Special Bond

Loyalty is important in the coaching business and Noll elected to stay on with Pittsburgh in 1988 when Joe Greene, one of the few coaches to survive the Steelers purge, talked him into staying instead of resigning after losing Dungy from his staff. Tomlin at 28 years of age had virtually no options when the team decided to retain the entire defensive staff. He was uncomfortable, but it produced his first Super Bowl ring as a coach.

It could also be the bedrock for a foundational “Tomlinism” that he does not seek comfort. Tampa Bay made him uncomfortable, and it became a positive experience. This a lesson that the Steelers’ head coach learned two decades ago and has been passing on ever since.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Does doing what is necessary, even when we don’t want to, make us better people in the end? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.