Thread only for Tomlin detractors....

Child please

 

I’m a child but you’re the one exhibiting childish behavior because you won’t admit you were wrong and move on?
One more time just for laughs.....this is what YOU said...

steelersrule6: “If being a DB coach was his specialty, then he would coach the DBs himself duh” .


Oh and the ‘ duh” at the end,, that’s something children say, just drop it and move on and you accused me of looking for a argument? Let it go....

 

Hey The Glory Days. Yes, I thought the same thing

Hey The Glory Days.

Yes, I thought the same thing about Roonatic's post regarding the Leadership intangibles that players bring to a team. In this specific case Cowher's guys vs. Tomlin's guys. I discussed the same thing with a friend/fan about a year ago. Roonatic brings up a valid point IMO. When one asks who are the clubhouse leaders on Tomlin's team you have to think for a moment and the list is quite short in most instances if there is a list at all. Now with Cowher, the list is quite extensive. To name a few: The Bus, Hines Ward, Brett Kiesel and James Farrior. Those who I just listed are more from the end of Cowher's coaching career. If you go back to the beginning of the Cowher era you could list even more.

As a coach myself, you want those clubhouse leaders. There are some intangibles, such as "Clubhouse Leadership" that has to come from the players. It cannot come from the coach. It is a player to player thing. Under Tomlin, I am not sure who would fill that role. No one really comes to mind. Sure there have been some players that are more vocal than others but I still do not hold them in the same light as the guys that I just mentioned for Cowher. Heyward maybe. I think TJ Watt could evolve as that guy. Maybe Joe Haden. Possibly Pouncey. However, none of those names really scream team leaders to me. At least when comparing them to Cowher's guys.

Deviating a bit here. One expression that I liked from Tomlin was something along the lines of: "Today's game is a Five-Star match-up because we are in it". I thought that was pretty cool and it did catch on with the players the year of Super Bowl XLIII; which obviously we won (smile). Still deviating a bit here but I thought Tomlin drove home a great message the day before that game at practice. He was emphasizing creating turnovers, specifically interceptions. He was not pleased that after the player got a pick, the other members on the "D" really did not follow through with escorting him for a max return by blocking for him. Troy had brought that up in an interview. How ironic was it that James Harrison pulls off that 100 yard TD return interception and you watch our players escorting him down the field as they are forming that wall around him with the hopes of getting into the end zone. That was a freakin' awesome play and great advice from Coach Tomlin.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

Another great take from you. And it further evolved this perspective regarding team leaders. Cam and Pouncy have been the quiet leaders because others simply look up to them. But they don't seem to relish the role. Ben is vocal, but not constructively.

As I wrap my mind around this, Cowher found athletes with intangibles, with the characteristic to be leaders of men instead of athletes to fit in to a system. Does that get you guys like AB and Bell who lack character and are only productive on the field?

The character aspect is a slippery slope because of the men Noll had winning 4 championships. The off-the-field antics of those players is widely known. Tanner's Pirates were cut from the same cloth. There's a choir boy or two in every group, but by and large, those guys were rowdy, to say the least. It was a sign of the times, and we live in a different world today. So I guess they get a pass by today's standards. And to be fair, if those guys had social media like today, many would have likely fallen victim to its seduction.

Cowher had his share of misfires on character as well, so that's not solely on Tomlin. I guess my take is that Tomlin has made things more difficult on himself by not surrounding himself with enough coaches AND players that he can trust to do some of the policing for him. By the time an issue got to Cowher, it had already been addressed in the locker room.

 

Go for it!