The Enigma

Mike Tomlin, to me, is an enigma. He talks a great game and seems to be a pretty charismatic leader overall. I listened spellbound to his press conference this week and was thinking, dang, he's got such a great command of the other team. I was amazed as he spouted off about the Titans players and what the Steelers could expect from them offensively, defensively and on special teams. He knew every individual player and what their capabilities were and what the Steelers would need to do to prepare for them. When I finished listening to the press conference I felt like the Steelers would be ready to play.

BUT...that simply didn't translate to the football field today. It didn't translate to the football field most of last season when we seemed to come out flat, unprepared and uninspired. The other team's coaches always seem to kick our butts when it comes to game prep and especially in-game adjustments. Why is that?

I'm worried that Tomlin may be losing control of this football team and simply doesn't know how to right the ship. There have been times over the last few years that I've really thought the Patriots were heading toward mediocrity but Belichick always seemed to pull them out of the tailspin. Last year at one point I thought the Ratbirds were going to go winless the rest of the season. They'd just fired their OC and things looked bleak. But Harbaugh was able to turn things around and we know how that ended. Unfortunately, I'm not confident that Tomlin knows what to do to turn the situation around in Pittsburgh. The team just doesn't seem to be responding to him and that has me very concerned.

Tomlin talks a great game. The enigmatic part is that it doesn't seem to translate to the walk.

 

I think if Tomlin is gonna be the coach he's gonna have to get to the place where he absolutely institutes his own schemes and runs things his way. Does he give too much leeway to his coordinators? Does he not hold his coaches accountable? It's obvious Tomlin wants to run a 4-3 because of the guys he keeps drafting but he's not telling DL to make the switch. The enigma of Tomlin to me is what does he do? I mean does he just make tough calls like whether to go for it or punt or kick a field goal? I just wonder what his actual "role" is. Does he just ultimately say who makes the team and who starts and all that and that's it? I was listening to the post game on WDVE and they were saying Tomlin is a "master motivator" but is that really what the Rooney's pay him to do? Also if he's a master it's sure not showing. It's like people walk on eggshells to keep from criticizing the guy and I don't understand that. I don't mean people around here but people in the media. All I hear is how he's a "great" coach and all that. I could think of 3 or 4 off my head that I consider better than him. Tomlin reminds me of like a Pete Carroll type coach. He cheers his guys on but as far as the depths of the game I'm not sure how far he goes. Also his clock mgmt is AWFUL!!!

 

tomlin only has command of one thing.. the english language and his tomlinism

HINES

 

But do you think he gets TOO much of a fair shake from the media? I honestly can never think of a time where Tomlin has been criticized. What's the pulse in Pittsburgh? Does the local media just praise him and always give him a pass? I heard people calling in about Haley today and they defended him too but seems Tomlin gets a constant pass.

 

exactly and is becomming annoying

 

dont know ... unfortunately i have never lived in the burg.. live PT in myrtle beach SC... clearwater beach FL and the s hole city of cincinnati .. hate it there .

HINES

 

Maybe the best way I would describe Tomlin's leadership is that he leads from behind as they say.

 

Yeah it's Tomlin fault that all those high draft picks on the O-line can't block and the running backs keep fumbling or maybe the players just aren't good enough.

 

I haven't seen anything from Tomlin to indicate to me that he's a good coach. 12to88 said it best in another thread so I'll just go ahead and quote him/her

"Tomlin won one Super Bowl and then reached another with mostly Cowher's players. Most of those guys were not only coached by, but tutored by Cowher. He gave them a mindset. He set them in a direction. When Tomlin came in, whatever his approach was, it worked at that time. It was Cowher's pre-set discipline with Tomlin's personality. How many times have we seen it before? (Bylsma taking over Therrien's team? Hmmm? How's Bylsma looking now? He's Tomlin 2.0.) Now, here we are, several years later, most of Cowher's guys are gone, and we have a roster full of Tomlin-drafted-and-tutored players. And look at the results."

 

The reason I would say inconsistent and I don't mean that over just the last 2 seasons. I mean that over his career. How many times in his career have we lost to teams we had no business losing to? In 09 we seemed like we were doing great and we beat Minnesota and it was like after that we just stopped playing good football and then Tomlin is making his infamous statement that gets mentioned often around here. I know it was one game but what did you see in this game that looked like a glimmer of hope. I'm honestly asking that because I need a glimmer right now. I expect next week for James Harrison to be coming for Ben all night. With the pathetic line we have no team is gonna respect our run game because we don't have one and that puts Ben in incredible danger. I know Tomlin couldn't push a magic button last year but do you think he can push one this year? Last year I thought Tomlin coached his greatest game ever in Baltimore. I think this year we're gonna need a lot more of that because we just don't seem to have a playmaker.