Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is without a doubt one of the best coaches currently in the NFL and players from around the league agree and want to play for him if they haven\’t already.
In a recent poll of 103 players from 27 teams that was conducted by correspondents from the Sporting News, players overwhelmingly voted Tomlin as the coach that they would most like to play for. Tomlin received 31 votes in the poll and that was 21 more than New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who finished second in the poll with 10 votes.
So why was Tomlin the runaway winner with the players? I think a quote listed in the article from an unidentified NFL offensive player that once played for Tomlin in Pittsburgh best sums it up.
“What I liked about him the most is that he\’s very up front and honest with you. You kind of always know where you stand with him—good, bad or indifferent. You appreciate the honesty of knowing where you stand. And the other thing would be that he just kind of always says the right thing, whether it\’s to you, the group, the media. Once again, whether it\’s good, bad, he just kind of says the right thing. He\’s got that knack.”
This is not the first time that we have heard quotes such as the above from both current and former Steelers players, and the news obviously travels from locker room to locker room that Tomlin is indeed a great coach to play for.
Since his hiring, Tomlin has always kept the same even keel about him. With that said, he is not afraid to show his emotion to the players on the sideline. When a player needs to be scolded during the game, you often see it done face-to-face and in a low key manner. Those “teaching” sessions often end with him patting the player on top of the helmet as if to say, “I have confidence in you that you will fix this.”
Also, who wouldn\’t like a coach that celebrates like below on sideline when things go extremely well? I know I would.
Tomlin also received 8 votes for the most underrated head coach. Underrated? Really?
