A deeper look at Tomlin

It is absurd to think he is out of his depth. He's one of the winningest coaches of all time. That simply does not happen if he is incompetent.

 

Unless he is given the talent that "any" coach could win with?

 

2 sides of the coin with Tomlin.

Heads

Tomlin is what he is. He is a good motivator, and great speech guy. As someone to be the face of your franchise you really can't ask for anyone better. He handles the media well. He is very calm and consistent. I think for the most part he gets more out of his players than other coaches would.

Tails

His clock management is horrendous at times(at the worst times). He makes mistakes that pop warner coaches wouldn't. His complete reluctance to challenge plays in crucial moments that could easily be overturned, only to turn around and challenge plays that clearly should not be challenged. His head scratcher fake punts, and two point conversion attempt calls during moments of games where they are not at all warranted. Cowher had his finger on every aspect of the team when he was HC. Tomlin chooses to delegate responsibility and then not micro manage. Cowher made constant changes to the coaching staff in order to better it. Tomlin makes changes only when absolutely necessary, and usually not for the better. Tomlin's roster management has left us thin at crucial positions and at crucial times.(ex. RB in 14' and WR in 16')

Tomlin inherited a great team. There is no doubt about it. But I give Tomlin full credit for his accomplishments. Cowher liked to play it safe in games, and it cost us in big moments. Tomlin likes to go for the jugular, and he out coached Rex Ryan in 08' by doing so, which got us to the Super Bowl. 2010 was 5 years removed from when Cowher was coach of the Steelers. It's hard for me to give Cowher any credit for that squad. He also re-invented the team and put together an impressive run from 14' to 17'. Hard to give Cowher any credit there.

This is why Tomlin is so polarizing. Mike Tomlin is a good coach. But his flaws keep him from being a great coach. I think that's why so many people are on the fence with him. Personally I fell off the fence after the Jags loss.

 

I have a serious question. I don't go to other teams websites. Is there another franchise whose fans complain as much about their head coach as the Steelers?

 

Simple answer is no, because there is no other team with the pedigree that the Steelers have except for the Patriots and they don't have to complain, they just cheat.

 

http://thesteelersfans.com/forums/threads/a-deeper-look-at-tomlin.23957/page-2#post-764753

 

Two lines of "heads" commentary, and nine lines of "tails" commentary. Sounds about right

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/01/bill-cowher-wife-melanoma-prevention

According to this she was diagnosed in 2010 and died shortly after.

It’s a bit secondary to the main point, though, which was the team inherited maybe wasn’t the all-conquering one hindsight has made it. Particularly when you factor in the regular season dominance of the Colts and Chargers, the Patriots etc. There were a number of teams with ostensibly better rosters. The Steelers were good, but far from preordained champions.

 

And then he created AB, the poster-child for abstinence GO MIKE!! .

 

You may be right about the diagnosis, I thought there was discussion of his moving to NC in 2006 due to her illness but you are definitely right that it is secondary.

Yes, the 2006 team was not preordained champions but they were absolutely one of the top five teams in the NFL. Not many coaches inherit such teams.

 

Fair enough. He deserves credit for the SB win, to an extent. I mean, he could have done worse. Flea flickers on every offensive possession and goal-line defense for all the defensive ones would have been worse.

 

While chaperoning Cowher's team and making sure none of the kids got pregnant and coddling the greatest waste of talent the NFL has ever seen, he has managed to not have a losing season!

I say waive the rules, put him in the hall now!

 

True. But like most people, it's easier to point out his flaws than his attributes.

 

So do you think Tomlin has a better chance of the SB in the next 4 years or had a better chance in the past 9? My contention is that he'll not take us to another SB. My reasoning, beyond him being woefully out of his depth, is that if he couldn't get us there in 9 years with arguably one of the most talented rosters in the modern era, how is he going to get us there with not even half that talent? Answer: He can't.

That's not nonsense.

And as far as him being our chaperone, it's my contention that he truly did not build that team nor manage/coach it properly (as evidenced by 9 wasted years following the last SB appearance).

Again, not nonsense.

The only way you spin it as nonsense is by apologizing for his ineptitude and giving him credit because he was able to win more than he lost (a step down for the organization, by the way).

 

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

 

It's because there are SO MANY MORE flaws!!! Let me throw darts at the side of a barn. I'll never miss!!

 

Did I forget to mention that Mike's collection of sunglasses is top notch?

 

True! But in all fairness that's only because he has far more flaws than attributes.

 

I like his chances in the next 4 years, compared to the last 9 years. You say one of the most talented rosters, most of that talent was on offense, the defense had no playmakers Shazier was for a very limited time. Now they have a top 5 defense, they just need the offense to be better than average.

 

I accept your opinion, but it's going to be hard to win when you can be outscored by the Pirates.

 

The offense will certainly be better than last season, Ben and the offense just needs to score about 20 points a game, the defense will do the rest.

 

Yes, you did forget to mention that. A winning record and an Aviator collection will get you a free sandwich at Primanti Bro's.

 

I hate to be pessimistic, but unless we shore up the OL, our defense will have to contribute to get 20 points a game.

 

When they're losing, yes. I've visited:

Ravens- they wanted Hairball gone before the LJ experiment. Now he is god.

Browns- they focus on the owner usually but most were suicidal during Hue's run. After that Kitchens was the tits, taking them to the SB. They're a mixed bunch on Mayfield.

Bengals- mostly Steelers hate & Mike Brown hate but they hated M. Lewis most of his tenure.

Chiefs- not really hate but questioned all fat Andy's decisions.

Colts- they hate Irsay & now they hate Luck.

 

Simple question - why did Cowher go 8-8 after winning the SB? After all, the team was overflowing with talent as you and others have stated time and again and yet Cowher couldn't do any better than 8-8. Also, Cowher's SB winning season was due in large part by not having to face New England in the playoffs. Belichick routinely kicked Cowher's backside!

I always find that comment, "he won with Cowher's team," very aggravating