Good article on Tomlin and Cowher

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...ave-Mike-Tomlin-as-coach/stories/201409050108
This writer gets it, the same things I have been saying the fans love for Cowher they forget his struggles. I'm not saying Tomlin is a elite coach but the constant bashing from certain fans is tiresome, he still hasn't had a losing season. I liked Cowher as a coach but some fans act like he was successful as Chuck Noll.

 

I disagree completely.

Main stream media has been incredibly light on Tomlin. It is rare to find ANY negative comments about him from a coaching perspective on ESPN, NFL Network, CBS or NBC.

His sideline fiasco was about it and that was superficial at best.

To me, his team has underachieved more times (4) than overachieved (3). And he has two embarrassing playoff losses when he clearly had the much superior QB on the field (vs. Gerrard at home and vs. Tebow away).

Honestly 5 of 7 seasons under Tomlin had ended in disappointment and discouragement and trying to defend this teams two successful overachieving seasons as not being just "lucky". I'm not sure we can logically refute that.

Granted, I'll take being lucky and having a good run over nothing, but I'd rather have consistently good over lucky and Tomlin hasn't really done that.

Combine that with continued struggles with his offensive coaching staff (2 OC's and 4 O-line coaches) while never really improving production since his arrival.

The truth is the last two seasons under Tomlin are not as good as the first two. The last 3 are not as good as the first 3. That's a discouraging trend trying to convince me he's a good coach.

Exactly what is he good AT? Of my seven criteria of good coaching?

1. Talent Acquisition and working with the GM?
2. Assembling the best coaching staff?
3. Delegating responsibility while still being a leader on both sides of the ball?
4. Is he captain of the ship? Is his philosophy clear? Does he treat the players fairly and equally?
5. Is he improving the talent under him? Are players reaching their potential? How is the locker room and off-field issues?
6. In-season roster and in-game decisions. How is his demeanor and critical decision making during high stress moments?
7. Is the team winning/losing at the appropriate expectancy? Is the team increasing or decreasing expectations?

You tell me what grades you'd give Tomlin on some of those criteria. I don't think he gets that many "above the line" grades in my opinion.

 

I don't think Tomlin is a bad coach at all. I do think though that we are seeing that BA was a lot more important to this team than many people originally thought.

 

I agree fully deljzc. Tomlin can do no wrong in the eyes of the media. I personally think he's one of the most overrated coaches in the league. There's nothing about this team that reminds me of a well coached team. Talent is sorely lacking, players never seem to live up to their ability and we've had the same problems for 6 years now with no fix in sight. Good coaches fix problems, not let them remain for 6 years. But anyway, I've been down this road before and I just get pissed off thinking about the years we are currently wasting with a piss poor coach...

 

Our offence sucked with BA here. He wasn't important at all

 

I think these are good points. However, I think the playoff loss to the Broncos had more to do with injuries than anything else. We were down 6 or 7 starters in that game, if I recall correctly.

 

this

 

Did it though? Cause clearly we have had a fearsome ground game and scored all the time in the redzone the past two seasons...

 

When did I say we had a good offense the last 2 years? Our Oline has sucked ever since Tomlin came to town. Our run game has sucked since. Our red zone efficiency has sucked since Tomlin came to town. Our defense has gotten steadily worse. Our football IQ is the worst I've ever seen and it's been that way for years now. Sure, we've lost good players, but good coaches replace talent with talent and they get the most out of their players. It's no fluke that NE is a top team every year. They have lost far more talent than Tomlin has but they don't miss a beat.

There's too many excuses made for Tomlin.

 

You want to talk about underachieving you do realize Cowher went 1-4 in the AFC Championship games at home, it would've been 0-5 if the Colts completed that hail mary in 1995. Every coach will struggle as their roster get less talented.

 

Really he's had 2 1/2 tough seasons.
playoffs in
2007
2008
2010
2011
A bad 2009, 2012 and half of 2013

Really he did one hell of a job to go 6-2 over the second half of last season.

If you're only going to count Super Bowl wins and appearances as successful seasons then you're going to be disappointed a lot !

 

When was the last time the Patriots won a Super Bowl? 2004. I am not sure being a "top team" means much if you aren't winning Super Bowls. The Steelers have won two and been to another since then. Two of those Super Bowls have been under Tomlin with BA as the O-Coordinator. All of the things you mention about the offense have really been apparent the last two years, way more than before with BA.

I think too many fans like to cry when the Steelers don't have a top 5 offense and defense, but there is no denying that BA was useful to the Steelers during his time here.

 

In only one of those AFC championship game losses did he have the superior QB. That was when he had O'Donnell over Humphries. The other three losses were Stewart vs. Hall-of-Fame QB's.

And no where in my above post did I even mention Cowher. No where have I anointed Cowher the "goal". No where have I said Cowher is what we need. I don't want Cowher back. He's a dinosaur now. His method was good. He did extremely well with what he had at QB. He overachieved much more than he underachieved (even in the playoffs). There were seasons Cowher could have done better and others he did a lot better than expected.

Tomlin's record is 2 over achieving seasons. Four underachieving seasons. And one 12-4 campaign when we lost as a 7 point favorite against arguably the worst starting QB the league has seen in 5 years. That's his record. No one can deny those facts.

The media and some fans what to make all the excuses in the world for WHY this is his record, but it doesn't change that fact that IS his record. I personally think Tomlin is a lot more the reason for that record than some wish to believe.

 

You stole the thoughts right out of my mind. I've had doubts about Tomlin for some time now and have expressed them here often. My negative perceptions stem from:
1) Too many games where it seems we've come out totally unprepared;
2) Wasting some prime years of a generational QB;
3) Some of our young players seem to be regressing or not developing at all;
4) Disciplinary issues seem to suggest that Tomlin doesn't have the universal respect of the team;
5) To put it simply, he seems to get out-coached by the better coaches in the league.

To be fair, I'm ready and willing to allow Tomlin to change my mind, but I'm increasingly losing confidence in his ability to get the most out of this team.

 

If Tomlin's team starts slow again this year it will drive me nuts. I want this team to show urgency right out of the gate. They should learn from last year that making the playoffs should not involve relying on other teams to help them at the end of the season.

 

Apparently some people can't seem to grasp how hard it is to actually win a championship. In reality we should consider ourselves lucky and cherish those moments because it's entirely possible that we never win another.



1. Talent Acquisition and working with the GM?

Coaches don't aquire talent that's the GM's job. By all accounts Colbert and Tomlin work well together.
2. Assembling the best coaching staff?
We have arguably the best dc in the game, the best ol coach in the game, a very good wr coach, as for Lake the jury is still out, but he was a great player. I can't stand Haley, but that was Rooney's doing you can't blame Tomlin for that.
3. Delegating responsibility while still being a leader on both sides of the ball?He definitely isn't a micromanager, so he delegates responsibilty.
4. Is he captain of the ship? Is his philosophy clear? Does he treat the players fairly and equally?
The players love him so I would say they're treated fairly and equally.
5. Is he improving the talent under him? Are players reaching their potential? How is the locker room and off-field issues?Are players improving? yes. How is the locker room? I guess in your world Tomlin is to blame for Bell and Blount. Just like Belichek is to blame for hernandez and the Harboughs are to blame for players beating up their girlfriends.
6. In-season roster and in-game decisions. How is his demeanor and critical decision making during high stress moments. In season roster? I'm not even sure what you're going for on that one. His demeanor is just fine. I would far rather have someone cool under pressure like Tomlin or Belichek than a whiny @#$% like a harbough.
7. Is the team winning/losing at the appropriate expectancy? Is the team increasing or decreasing expectations?Yeah, pretty much. We had 10 years at the top and now we're rebuilding with at least another year to go. We still need a solid LT, LG, a CB or two and some depth at OLB. Unfortunately for those of you that want and expect instant gratification this a team sport. Just having a franchise QB doesn't cut it.

 

We haven't even played a regular season game and some you guys are calling for Tomlin's head?
There's about 8 or 10 of you guys that are relentless. Good thing you guys have no impact on the team decisions.

 

Glenn, instead of criticizing those of us that may have doubts about Tomlin's coaching abilities, tell us what you believe his redeeming qualities are as a coach. I'm sincerely willing to listen to opposing viewpoints but too often there is simply criticism of an opinion that you disagree with without elaborating on or clarifying your own position. I value and appreciate your opinion even though I may disagree with it.

 

I have said it many times. do I think tomlin is the best in the nfl? no. is he top 5? I think so. that being said there is not a current coach in the league I would trade him for. so before everyone says belichick, remember we have one a championship since he has. and you want to talk about bad drafts? I doubt there is a coach in the league with more control than he has

Tomlin has flaws but every coach does.

 

I know you didn't ask me but I will say one thing. the job he done last year won me over. most teams would have folded and some coaches would have even lost the locker room.
I think this year tomlin will be more involved. I think he lets his coaches coach but I think he will have a lot more input this year. I think that might have been one of his biggest flaws. especially on the defensive side of the ball

 

Or we'd be the Browns

 

Dude, it's not easy to get a superstar qb, Cowher finally got one and look at his success. Cohwer success was to his own detriment, Steelers hardly ever sniffed the possibility to draft early in the first round to knab one.

 

I already did Jack!

 

I've given him credit for the job he did the second half of last season, but I don't give him a pass for the first half, and I don't give him a pass for the second half of the season before that but I give him credit for the first half of that season, and I don't give him a pass for getting Tebow'd in the playoffs but I give him credit for helping to get us there....

I see, Mr. Tomlin, that you've developed a terrible case of the inconsistencies! Unfortunately, inconsistency has been a hallmark of the team the last few years.

 

Glenn, that's not clarification, friend. What makes Tomlin a good head coach?

GO!