When Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas discussed Mike Sullivan’s exit as head coach last week, he said, “Sometimes the class needs a new professor, and sometimes the professor needs a new class.”
During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive said that’s the only appropriate way to look at the situation.
“I think that Kyle’s description of the Sullivan situation was right on,” Madden said. “If anything, it reinforced my idea that Sullivan should have been out years earlier — probably when Dubas took the job (in 2023). I do have faith in Dubas’ process and in what he will do to hire the next coach.”
I asked Madden if he thought Steelers owner Art Rooney II would ever employ a similar strategy with Mike Tomlin.
“No, never,” Madden insisted. “And the Penguins parting company with Sullivan just highlights how ludicrous it is that (the Steelers) keep Tomlin no matter what, because it’s a very similar situation and very similar resumes. Although, I look at Sullivan as twice the hockey coach that Mike Tomlin is a football coach. I think Tomlin has never been a good coach.”
Now that Greg Popovich is stepping down as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs after 29 years, Tomlin is the longest-tenured head coach in any major North American team sports. That’s despite the fact he hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 postseason.
Madden advanced multiple reasons for that mentality from Rooney II.
“First and foremost, the Steelers just don’t fire their coach,” Madden said. “Secondly, (Tomlin) has the national media absolutely buffaloed. … But there’s this pervading notion that if you win a championship, you should be employed for life. Your grace periods should go no longer than the next season, maybe not even then.”
Similar to Tomlin, Popovich went the last 11 seasons of his career without advancing beyond the first round of playoffs.
As for Sullivan taking the Rangers head coaching job in New York, Madden isn’t quite sure how that will go.
“That’s not an ideal situation. It’s definitely a bad dressing room,” Madden said. “They got rid of some of the guys that made it bad, like Jacob Trouba, who was revered as a leader. That goes to show just how messed up that dressing room was that they would revere that cheapshot artist as a leader. You’ve still got guys like J.T. Miller, the diplomat. You got guys like Chris Kreider. It’s going to be tough to handle for Sully.”
Madden insists it won’t be all bad for Sullivan, though.
“The one thing he does have is an excellent goalie. (Igor) Shesterkin has gotten the Rangers as far as the Conference final twice,” Madden added. “But they didn’t make the playoffs this year, and I do think there’s some work to be done.”
Also in the podcast, Madden and I speculate about the level of acrimony between Sullivan and Dubas on the way out. We talk about Paul Skenes’ recent issues, media coverage of the Pirates and the M3 Rock Festival in Maryland.