Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin still hasn’t spoken about his resignation from the team, but the players sure are saying a lot.
Even if they aren’t putting their names on their own quotes.
We talk about those topics and provide some playoff predictions in this Friday’s “Football Footnotes.”
If Tomlin is really just resigning from coaching the Steelers, it would behoove him to address that publicly in a press conference setting, the way Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll did.
Simply walking away with a press release from the team didn’t exactly feel harmonious.
To be fair, that may not have been an entirely true vibe for those two either. There were undercurrents back when Noll retired after the 1991 campaign that some acrimony over firing offensive coordinator Joe Walton was at the crux of his eventual retirement after 23 years. In his book “Heart and Steel,” Cowher acknowledged that entering the 2006 season was the closest he’d ever come to not having “some type of easily agreed-to extension” with Dan Rooney — but still denied that money had anything to do with his eventual decision to step down.
Despite much speculation to the contrary at the time.
While fans and media may have been dubious about either of their true motivations, Cowher and Noll saw the benefits in smoothing those edges by publicly saying goodbye.
It appears Tomlin doesn’t share that opinion, even though both of those coaches hung it up after non-playoff seasons, and Tomlin just won the AFC North.
At his own press conference Wednesday, Rooney admitted that he didn’t try to talk Tomlin out of resigning. That was moments after he dodged a question about whether he had planned to offer the coach his usual extension before the last year of his contract.
Simply saying that he was hoping to “run it back with Mike next year” doesn’t answer that. So there is a lot of gray area there.
If Tomlin wants to clear up any of that, there’s an easy way to do it.
Hey, Mike, I’ve got nothing going on at noon Tuesday if you want to “run it back” one more time on the South Side.
If he doesn’t, I’m sure there will be some sort of explanation filtered through Jay Glazer on Fox this Sunday.
I wouldn’t be stunned if Mike even showed up on the broadcast himself somehow.
Either way, that’s not the same thing as what Noll and Cowher did, and those press conferences still seem to resonate with Steelers fans today.
Tomlin may want to reconsider and hold a public Q&A.
It’s entirely possible that Tomlin simply did have enough, was ready to walk away and is 100% fine with the front office. He may have just been fed up with the fans and media and doesn’t want to talk publicly anymore.
That’s the tone some unnamed players in the locker room wanted to project.
In a story posted at The Athletic, numerous sources who were in the meeting when Tomlin announced his resignation to the players spoke of sobbing, hyperventilation and players groaning “No” out loud.
There were also quotes from players who said that no one on the roster had an issue with Tomlin, but they did with the coordinators. And they griped about how dense the public “berating” of Tomlin was and how it got “(expletive) ridiculous.”
The anonymous players who were quoted made it sound like Tomlin was pushed out by public sentiment and social media rancor.
That doesn’t sound like the Tomlin all of Pittsburgh saw for 19 years.
Hey, if that’s true, I get it. It got thick.
Twice hearing 60,000 people chanting to fire you in your home stadium probably wears on your emotions. I wouldn’t blame the guy if he just wanted to say, “To heck with it, I’m done here.”
But if that’s not the case, I’m sure Tomlin is hating the fact that it is being portrayed that way with these quotes.
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Let’s not gloss over that one unnamed player saying they “were upset with the coordinators.”
OK, well, who hired the coordinators? Who retained Matt Canada, Teryl Austin and Keith Butler for so long? Who let Arthur Smith design and call the offense that he did this year?
Tomlin has been the most powerful person in that building in terms of football operations–and in some cases beyond–for at least the last 15 years of his tenure.
If he wanted to change or influence the coordinators, he could’ve.
One thing that The Athletic post clearly indicates is that there are significant fences to mend within that locker room.
Whoever replaces Tomlin better win the room on Day 1. While fans and media — and perhaps even Rooney — grasp why it’s time for a change, the players clearly don’t think that way. They wanted Tomlin to stay.
On some level or another, every one of those guys has to understand that Coach X is not at fault for taking Tomlin’s job. Tomlin resigned. Someone has to coach the team.
But subconsciously, I won’t be surprised if there is some early resentment until the new coach proves himself.
• I told you last week to bet on the San Francisco 49ers at plus-5½ in Philadelphia. It somehow went to 6½. Not only did they cover, they won.
Bet on them again Saturday in Seattle. They are getting seven points. My hunch is the Seahawks win, but if the ’Niners are getting a touchdown, take it.
• With Los Angeles assistant coaches Nathan Scheelhaase and Chris Shula in the mix to be Tomlin’s replacement, the ratings for the Rams game against the Bears Sunday night may be higher in Pittsburgh than they will be in L.A.
• I’m picking Buffalo over Denver because the Bills have Josh Allen. And, based on how he played last week, I’m taking New England over the Texans because Houston has C.J. Stroud.
Watch: The final “Friday Football Show” of the season with Mike DeCourcy and Tim Benz