In the last few minutes of Mike Tomlin’s news conference Tuesday, WTAE’s Ashley Liotus asked the Steelers’ coach if he felt like he was on the hot seat heading into last week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.
“Man, I’ve been in the hot seat for 19 years,” Tomlin responded.
Before you react, just know I was right there with you in spirit when I heard Tomlin say that too. In fact, I thought I might wind up on the Steelers’ injury report as “questionable” with a strained optic nerve after rolling my eyes so hard.
C’mon, Mike. You’ve never been on the hot seat a day on the job in Pittsburgh. You rolled in here and won three division titles, two AFC Championship games and a Super Bowl in your first four years.
If the Rooneys had the power, they would’ve had you knighted in the winter of 2011. You were “Coach for Life” moving forward.
Art Rooney II has never had a thought of replacing you, and never will until you have multiple losing seasons in a row.
Let alone one.
No matter how many seasons go by without any playoff wins.
It’s eight, by the way, if I haven’t mentioned that in the last 24 hours.
And 12 of the last 14.
And 14 of 18 overall. But that’s a column for another day.
That day happened to be last Tuesday, in case you missed it.
I quickly realized, though, that Tomlin wasn’t answering that question with the intent it was posed. That question was posed with the intent of asking Tomlin if he was feeling heat from ownership — or at least the fans and media.
Tomlin responded by answering it from his own sense of temperature. His own internal thermostat. His own sense of pressure, responsibility, competitiveness and desire.
“Did you feel like you had something to prove to the fans at all?” Tomlin was asked as a follow-up.
“I always feel like I’ve got something to prove,” Tomlin replied. “Not necessarily to anyone in particular. That’s just the spirit in which I go about what I do professionally.”
As hard as I’ve been on Tomlin lately, to his credit, I appreciate that response. Dare I say it, I even believe him.
I do think he cares. I do think he affixes a sincere weight to himself for every loss. I do think the emotions of every game make him run hot, and he has a pathological investment in the sport.
I have seen him moments after losses in the locker room before he goes to the podium, and he looks like he has just seen his dog get hit by a bus.
Indeed, in his mind, his seat is always hot because he is the one cranking up the temperature after any loss.
In his mind, he genuinely believes in his whole “The standard is the standard” schtick… even though his team’s perpetual mediocrity has lowered that standard to a nauseating degree.
Tomlin isn’t always forthright when he speaks with us on Tuesday afternoons or after games. He’s admitted as much. Blatantly. Proudly.
But I think he was being honest with those responses.
That said, I also think he’s aware of where Liotus was going with the question and didn’t want to take the bait.
Hey, I said Tomlin was being honest. That doesn’t mean he can’t be prudent at the same time.