Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin has a unique way of communicating with players and the media. He speaks in ‘Tomlinisms’ or catchy little sayings that resonate in different ways with different people. The national media loves the quirky turns of phrase and some of his players think the sayings make him more relatable. On Episode 15 of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, the legendary quarterback asked his guest James Harrison if he had a favorite ‘Tomlinism?’
James Harrison helped the Steelers beat the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. 2009 FILE/MARK HUMPHREY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“I probably tuned it out after a certain point,” Harrison answered. “The first time you know you got my attention, but I’m like yo, he had some that he came up with that are good. Like the great white shark is a serial killer, they just swim and eat. I had to give him credit for that one.”
Harrison was smirking and potentially butchered the quote, but he played the game viciously and a comparison to a great white shark doesn’t seem like a stretch. Ben Roethlisberger has made a habit of asking ex-players who are guests on the podcast what their favorite quote from the coach is, but Harrison is the first to confess that he tuned out the legendary coach who promoted him to starting linebacker in his first season as a head coach.
“Do you think he comes up with these things,” Roethlisberger asked Harrison. “Or you think he just like hears it somewhere. What do you think?”“I don’t know,” Harrison replied. “Because I know this stuff is like old school stuff that my parents used to say, so he might have heard it from his parents.”
“That would be a funny sketch,” Spencer T’eo interjected. “Tomlin had a writer for all these things, you know like Obama’s anger translator.”
Spencer T’eo was referring to the classic Key and Peele sketch where Luther translates for the former president. The sketch was so popular that the former President asked them to perform it live at the 2015 White House correspondent’s dinner. Harrison is probably a little closer to the mark with a lot of the sayings bleeding down from the head coach’s family, but the juxtaposition of the no nonsense coach asking a room full of writers to churn out sayings is a funny thought.
ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: James Farrior #51, James Harrison #92 and Brett Keisel #99 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrate a defensive play against the Green Bay Packers during Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. The Packers won 31-25. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The more interesting point is that every coach has a shelf life with a group of players. No matter how effective the coach is, at some point, unless he adapts and changes, the players tune him out. Tomlin has a lot of ink on both sides of the ledger with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did win a Super Bowl and a veteran group that had finally reached their limits with Bill Cowher’s intensity adjusted very well to Tomlin’s more player-friendly approach and it produced two more Super Bowl appearances and a championship.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Is Harrison revealing that he tuned out Coach Tomlin surprising or something you suspected most veterans started to do after a few years under him? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
