There’s one thing about Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin that can’t be disputed, and that’s the fact that players love playing for him.
While the Steelers graded out poorly in numerous categories in the latest NFL Players Association survey, Tomlin received an A grade, and he ranked No. 5 overall in the NFL in his players’ satisfaction with playing for him.
Tomlin is a tremendous motivator and has a knack for relating to players on a level that extends beyond just football. A lot of coaches fail in that aspect and lose the locker room and ultimately their jobs. The situation with players rallying and playing hard for Antonio Pierce once Josh McDaniels was fired in Las Vegas this past year is a prime example. There has to be a two-way street of respect.
Skip Bayless of FS1 has stated repeatedly over the years that if he could play for one head coach in the NFL, it would be Tomlin. But Bayless believes Tomlin has some competition now in Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers.
“If I could play for any coach, I’d play for Mike Tomlin, Bayless said. “Seventeen years he’s coached the Steelers, a long time. Never had a losing season in 17, he’s pretty great.
“As much as I’d put Mike Tomlin at the top of my list right now, the newest threat to Mike T is now coaching in Los Angeles, coaching of all teams the Chargers. He’s already proven to me he’s the best coach in all of football, college and pro.”
For sure, Harbaugh has been a successful head coach everywhere he’s been. He led Michigan to a national championship this past season and guided the 49ers to the Super Bowl with Colin Kaepernick in 2012. He also was great at San Diego University and turned around the Stanford program.
This will Harbaugh’s first NFL job since a decade ago. It will be interesting to see what he can do with a talented roster in Los Angeles. He’ll have a franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert to work with.
Tomlin, who is heading into his 18th season with the Steelers, is the longest-tenured head coach in the league. At the NFL owner’s meeting on Monday in Orlando, Rob King of Steelers.com asked Tomlin about coaching the Steelers for the foreseeable future. And Tomlin gave an answer that suggests he has more fire now than ever.
“Absolutely. I love what I do. I love where I do it. I love who I do it with. I answer that question rather easily, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. “Certainly, we have things like contracts and things to address. But just in spirit, in terms what I do, the energy I bring to what I do, the desire to step out of that car every day and step into that facility, it hasn’t waned in any way. If it’s done anything different, it has intensified.”
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