Look at behavior, not words

Talk is cheap, and with twitter even cheaper. Look what the Steelers have done in the last few years with players -

• Sign Brown instead of Wallace when he wanted too much
• Let Harrison go after he seemed to demonstrate a bad attitude in practices.
• Refused to sign Bell to an overvalued contract
• Benched Brown when he didn't practice
• Burris, Bryant - gone
• Made Ward and Polamalu walk when their careers would down

I think Tomlin treats players like men and adults. Show up for work during the week and work hard, and you'll play on Sunday. Don't show up or be lazy, and you won't play or you'll get cut. Team won't overpay for talent. Not too worried about motivation - players should take care of that on their own. I don't think he cares what folks do outside of practice or games - that is their business. Social media - not relevant. Brown works hard in practice and performs at a high level - fine. He doesn't show up for practice, he doesn't play. Pretty simple. Doesn't care about interpersonal conflicts. Not relevant to him. At least it seems that way.

The problem is that the prima donnas and big egos don't behave like adults. They pout and cause unrest in the locker room. Not sure Tomlin (or anyone) can handle these folks. I also wonder if that is why some players get hats on game day. Not because they are the best choice, but because they worked hard during the week and were rewarded. We get to see little to nothing of what transpires during the week - that is really where coaches make their money.

The next few weeks and months will be interesting, to see if coaches who work hard are rewarded or let go.

 

Those coaches that have shown considerable progress with the talent available will be rewarded. Those who have not are as good as gone. Porter is already an indicator as to what many can expect. For that matter, expect Keith Butler to receive his papers as well.

 

We did offer Bell 70 mil..........

 

Agree. They certainly did. It's a business for players and management. They aren't looking to keep anybody who they perceive as not having value and they are willing to overlook a lot of things if the perceived value is there. They did want Bell but at their value .They stuck with Bryant during his suspension until it got to the point that they could get equal value in return. They might of been aware of another potential suspension as well. They stuck with Ben during his troubles but there were rumors that they were exploring trade options as well. Who knows what would of happened if they had gotten what they perceived as value....

The moral of the story is when your talent dips below the value of your contract they are gonna dump you in a second. That's why I tend to support the guys going out ther busting their humps, getting maimed and shortening their life span with every play. I have little sympathy for the billionaire owners who hold all the cards...

If anyone feels differently were just gonna have to agree to disagree

 

I was referring to the op saying refused to sign Bell. The Steelers did offer 70 that isn’t refusing to sign a guy imo. Lol.

 

I think I was agreeing with you. They did want Bell and they did offer him a good contract but I'm not sure of the guaranteed money was there. I have no desire to start talking about him again either.
I think the basis of my point is the FO shouldn't get that much credit for dumping guys they basically no longer wanted anyway. They weren't gonna give them away. That's for sure.

 

I've actually studied Tomlin's coaching style in games. He's not as bad with the Xs and Os that people portray. The issue many times to to people's chagrin has been EXECUTION of those Xs and Os. Even he said himself that he could improve with being more of a disciplinarian as coach. That's ok with me because I understand his situation.


He had arguably the best running back and best wide receiver in football with a hall of fame QB. He's under a ton of pressure. These people will help you win football games. So you labeled a "player's coach" when you don't cut your 20 mil top 3 WR after he throws coolers on the sideline because he doesn't feel he's getting the ball enough.


I'm not one that is throwing Tomlin under the bus. I think he handled the Bell situation as well as a coach could given the circumstance. He's had some significant challenges with things outside of his control ultimately (who's controlling a grown man for going to his Twitter account for example). Tomlin has made mistakes sure, but he's owned up to his mistakes publicly and handles things professionally.


I do think this is do or die for Tomlin. Personally I want him to trade Antonio. Make a statement to the team that those who want to act like children will be dealt with accordingly.

Brown's a good player, as was Bell, but neither one of them is bigger than the Steelers IMO. I like it that way.

 

You make some good points. I don't necessarily agree on all of them but point taken. The problem with saying do or die with Tomlin is if you do end up trading AB I don't think you come close to equaling his production,not to mention how his ability makes things so much easier for everyone else. If it's do or die for MT keeping AB might be in his best interest. It's almost the same thing how Coughlin a known disciplinarian was putting up with Beckham to try and save his job

 

I’m in the minority on this one, but AB worked his tail off day after day, during the season and in off-season. Remember last year he came back after two weeks from a lower leg injury that would have shelved most players for months. Yes, he probably felt disrespected hearing crap from his QB - someone who takes every Wednesday off

 

I agree that Tomlin gets probably too much blame for what are execution errors and on-field mistakes, but isn't that something that should be addressed in all the practices leading up to a game? The old adage of you perform how you practice would seem to indicate practices aren't what they should be, and that falls on the coaching staff. But we never see that, so it is hard to judge.

 

I know how much he's hated so people will probably just blow it off but Bell made a comment a couple years ago about how easy practice was. They certainly don't look like they practice the same for lesser opponents as they do the better ones. You practice how you play has been said for a long,long time. I don't think that should be easily dismissed as a problem with this team.

 

I understand what you're saying, and agree to some extent. But a HC can't just "expect" these guys to act like men/adults, and then just be absolved himself of blame when this Hindenburg of a team goes down in flames. It doesn't work that way. His job... his # 1 job... is to keep this team together and make sure that the product put on the field is the best it can be. If his job were as you describe it, then why would we even need a HC? They are men/adults, right? Why would they need another man/adult to not watch over them?

 

Who?

 

I think Tomlin’s approach probably works for 90% of the players, but the elite with egos seem to not respond well to that - they see it as leeway. Also, you are correct -building a “team” may require more than that. Love to know how the “team” handles the prima donnas, not just the coach.

 

Perception of easy practices may be a side effect of Tomlin’s approach - he assumes professionals will work hard on their own, which probably doesn’t work for every type of player.

 

Does Ben take Wednesday off or does Tomlin sit him on Wednesday?

 

I can't remember what was said but Tomlin did address this in his press conference. He talked about giving vets the day off and how it also helped the younger guys. I just can't remember exactly how Tomlin phrased it

 

I believe the phrase commonly used is “coaches decision”.

Troy was given Wednesday’s off at the end of his career to keep him fresh.

 

The problem is that this is becoming a league of egos. I know it has been to some extent for a long time, but we're seeing more and more "me" type players, and it's going to take a disciplinarian HC to reign them in. This seems to be something new for the Steelers in the past 5-6 years. Not sure MT can handle it.

 

Seems the other person is suggesting that Ben Roethlisberger is choosing to take a day off.

 

Well he has practiced on Wednesdays before,so it's not etched in stone and Ben being a captain and franchise QB could probably practice whenever he wanted too. Coach I think we could use some extra reps this week. Big game coming up. You know a couple guys may need to get there timing down a little better etc....

Nah Ben I think you should sit this one out....

I don't know about that.

 

In what world is it "good X's and O's" to cover WR with Linebackers? Regardless of execution.
He is also below-average at clock management and this nonsense of not getting advice from the booth and challenging plays based on "gut" needs to end yesterday

 

If the refs would just let the Chargers false start, I’m certain they could get a touchdown

 

yeah Idon't know for sure.

 

Me neither