It’s not straightforward to search out unfavorable phrases about Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, not less than outdoors of Steelers fandom. By a large margin, he instructions extra respect than almost anyone else in NFL circles because the longest-tenured head coach. He has near-universal respect from his gamers previous and current. One factor that doesn’t come up typically is how he handles his stuff, although, which Miles Killebrew just lately talked about.
“He’s such a pacesetter, man. And he holds his coaches accountable, which is exclusive, I believe”, he stated of Tomlin on the Christian Kuntz podcast. Christian Kuntz is, after all, the Steelers’ lengthy snapper, so he is aware of Tomlin fairly effectively, too.
“I haven’t been in plenty of different groups, clearly, however to have a constant message for the gamers and the coaches, I respect that quite a bit”, Killebrew stated of the teaching strategies Tomlin employs. “Since you don’t have to do this. You would simply be like, ‘Ah, coaches, you do what you need’, however gamers, ‘Do as I say, not as I do’. However not right here”.
Kuntz agreed with Killebrew about Tomlin holding his coaches accountable. “He calls coaches. Referred to as out. Oh yeah”, he stated. “Everyone. Scouts, the man filming, no matter. You’re there to do the job, and if you happen to’re not doing it, you’re gonna be referred to as out”.
A current instance got here simply this week throughout coaching camp practices, on the primary day of pads. In the course of the backs-on-‘backers drill, Tomlin singled out outdoors linebackers coach Denzel Martin, ribbing him for his unit’s efficiency. “Coach your guys up!”, he yelled, saying that that they had no enterprise shedding to tight ends.
However as each Kuntz and Killebrew identified, Mike Tomlin has clear motivation for every little thing he does. “He needs the very best from you”, the latter stated concerning Tomlin’s critiques. “He doesn’t need you to simply accept being mediocre, which is cool”.
In fact, many Steelers followers will disagree about the concept Tomlin holds his coaches accountable. In spite of everything, we’re coming off one of many greatest blunders of his total profession, which was his choice to retain Matt Canada as offensive coordinator. He ended up having to fireside Canada in-season final yr, which I’m positive he hated doing all the way down to his core.
One factor I can say is that the Steelers have turned their teaching employees over quite a bit in recent times below Tomlin. The vast receiver coach place particularly has been a revolving door since Darryl Drake’s sudden passing. They’ve cycled via Ike Hilliard and Frisman Jackson since then, now onto Zach Azzanni.
Tomlin additionally saved issues transferring alongside the offensive line quite a bit all through his teaching profession, with one exception. He would have saved Mike Munchak right here for so long as he was prepared to educate, I’m positive. Exterior of Munchak’s tenure right here, although, they’ve gone via various o-line coaches. They appear to love present coach Pat Meyer, although, now doing into his third season. Most place coaches function below two-year contracts, so he’s clearly on his second contract.
