Mike Tomlin = Vince Lombardi!?

According to a story I just read on NFL.COM they named 2 current coaches that were the most like Lombardi. My guess was they would say Belichick and Coughlin. So I clicked on the story just to see if I was right and low and behold they said 1. Mike Tomlin and 2. Tom Coughlin. I was honestly shocked! I've always viewed Tomlin as really passive and not all that "old school" I guess you would say. So what do you guys think about that? Are you surprised too?

 

Don't get me wrong. I love Mike Tomlin. I think some of us are still just in culture shock after getting used to seeing Bill Cowher's chin stuck out for so long. Honestly my biggest beef with Tomlin is just the fact that he seems to use so many platitudes in his pressers. I've had this debate on here before about the way Tomlin seems to hold all the players to the same standard but we all know that in reality you can not possibly expect Charlie Batch to play up to Ben's level. Just things like that ya know? However, we do know that he can be EXTREMELY hard on the player too. I remember hearing the players talk about his first year there and that they thought he was gonna kill 'em all with grueling practices. THAT I would say is sorta my impression of how Lombardi would be.

 

and why not? are we talking a good ben day or a bad ben day? :roll:

 

True enough. Ben's consistency is something that, for me, has worsened over the seasons. Injuries have obviously played a part, but still.

On the subject of platitudes: in many ways, spouting cliches is what most coaches have done since ever. We might think of the earlier coaches 'inventing' phrases, and Tomlin just repeating them ad nauseum, but they probably carry the same amount of meaning when they were said at either time.

Tomlin is probably the most media savvy coach or player we've had here. He knows how to give away very little. It can be frustrating, but now I tend to see it as more entertaining: it's like "spot the cliche" whenever he has a press conference.

The one exception to the rule was the "Unleash Hell" one...

 

I didn't read the story, but I could see comparing those two guys to Lombardi's sort of no nonsense attitude.

 

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i believe that was one time MT spoke more from his heart then his head. hey we have all had moments of open mouth ,insert foot.

 

The thing is, it was a great line.

Imagine if we had played properly that game, won out the season and headed to the superbowl - you can just see how NFL Films would document it. "The battlecry that turned the tide" etc.

Unfortunately, the team didn't show up and we all know how it finished. So it ended up looking awful. But it was still a potentially great line - I'm just not sure that Tomlin could have been entirely confident that it was going to happen, given how badly the team then played.

 

I also had the december comment in mind when I thought about his platitudes. One cool thing they showed in the 08 America's Game was the fact that our schedule was EVIL that year and the way Tomlin would motivate the team each week would be to tell them that " This is a 5 star matchup because we are in it"! And I think that's pretty smooth.

 

Look I respect Tomlin and his accomplishments and am glad he's our coach but he's no Lombardi. Lombardi would never have instituted camp cupcake.

 

Blame the new union contract for "Cupcake Camp" not Tomlin

 

Camp cupcake preceded the new CBA by a long shot. Sorry, but the responsibility for "c c " rests with MT.

 

I thought camp cupcake proceeded from a particularly harsh year of injuries that was blamed on the intensive training camp Tomlin had run?

 

That's what I remember as well. Damned if you do and damned if you don't

 

Referring to original post, Belicheat = Al Davis

 

I guess if I really thought about it if not for the december comment I would have to say that I think of Mike Tomlin as more like Tom Landry. He seems more like a quiet and stoic leader more than an outspoken in your face type of a guy. But hey if people want to refer to our coach as "Lombardiesque" who am I to quarrel with that? Just add him to a long line of legends going back to Noll.

 

I have a hard time calling 3 a long line, but we shall see.

 

No problem with Tomlin.
He is entertaining to listen to, even when he says nothing... Would make a great politician, but that`s how almost all coaches, and players are today. However, he does have a rather unique, and eloquent way of saying nothing more than he wants to give away.
When the "unleash hell..." comment was brought up, it reminded me of his summation of the upcoming season opener against Balt, last year...
"Two Trains on the same track..."....
Well, He was certainly right, it was a train wreck.
Just one that we were on the wrong side of.
Gonna have a hard time ever forgetting that game. Was looking forward to a great battle to start the season, that could give us a game up on them, right off the bat, and then... well... you know... OUCH... that hurt!
Also, a previous poster mentioned "sports cliches", and I can`t remember exactly which one, or ones I heard, that we still hear today, but there were a couple in an earlier thread, about "an inside look at Superbowl 10"...
There were some non-mass media interviews, and behind the scenes clips, and it shocked me, that I heard a couple of the same phrases, we still here today, from 1979, or so.
Now I remember the one that jumped out at me...
They were showing the Cryboys in the locker room, and one of the players was pointing out a season long schedule, they had on their wall, with the slogan... "ONE GAME AT A TIME", across the top, as motivation.
How many times do we still hear that one, today?
Anyways, there are a lot of time tested cliches, still heard today, and i suppose, it`s because they are the truth...
As to the original point of the thread, there will always only be ONE Vince Lombardi.
That`s why his name is on the trophy we all play for.
As for current coaches similar to him, I dunno, he had a unique way, of getting players to give their all for him, while looking calm, and unfazed, on the sideline. He certainly wasn`t "fire and brimstone", on the sideline.
More unflappable, and "gentleman-like", even with the way he dressed.
So, I could see the similarity to Tomlin, there.
Noll strikes me much the same way, and Bill Parcells, Tom Landry, to a degree,but out of CURRENT coaches...
I`m drawing a blank. I`m sure there are a couple I`m not thinking of, is Andy Reid still coaching?
Even he is more expressive on the sideline.
I just hope Tomlin can continue getting us to the big game, regardless of whether you consider him to be like Lombardi, or not.
I like his style, and have faith.
He does still have some room for improvement on in-game adjustments, clock management, and when to use challenges, though, IMHO.

 

i remember when MT was first hired and he had a comment about he was a fan of nolls style and way of doing things. about it being a good model to follow. i'm not sure he really has strayed from that thinking. he likes the players he drafts. they don't do radical things, like keep changing coaches and coordinators. they believe in what they do and the players believe in them. so even if he's not like lombardi who was an awesome coach, but more like chas noll, well that's not a bad thing either.

 

I think he meant that for 43 years they have always had a great coach.[/quote:zg090jv3]


I know, just wanted to poke the bear.


Still love the gif in your sig. I tried to have it as my Desktop background, but couldn't get the animation. I still laugh everytime I see it.

 

I have to believe that if Vince Lombardi would have released the "Unleash Hell" comment it would have had a much bigger impact.