As a head coach of an NFL team, it can be a difficult job managing a 90-man roster prior to cutdowns to the league-mandated 53 for the regular season.
As much as you must be good with the X’s and O’s and understanding situational football, you also need to be a CEO of sorts, knowing how your players respond and being able to get the most out of them. The way you coach players may be different as well, treating a rookie and a 10-year veteran differently based on knowledge of the game as well as career accomplishments.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, that CEO of sorts is none other than head coach Mike Tomlin. Rookie OT Broderick Jones was asked by the media if he feels like Tomlin is coaching him tough as Pittsburgh’s hopeful future franchise left tackle. or if he’s giving him grace since he is a rookie adjusting to his first NFL season.
“I don’t think he’s on me that hard,” Jones said about Tomlin to the media Tuesday via video from Steelers.com. “I think he coaches all his guys equally. No matter how old you are, how long you’ve been in the league, he sticks to his coaching style. That’s what I like about him. So, I wouldn’t say he’s coaching me hard or he’s not coaching me at all, but I like seeing him when he’s around, just being able to showcase my talents and stuff. So, I feel like that’s a blessing.”
Jones didn’t have the most glowing night last Friday in his first NFL game, showing a need for further refinement when it comes to his technique. Still, Jones doesn’t feel like Tomlin has been any harder on him than the rest of the guys, holding all his players to a certain standard.
Tomlin has said in the past as one of his famed Tomlinisms that he treats everyone fairly, but he doesn’t treat everyone the same. Some would say that this would slightly go against Jones’ point, but there’s a key difference here. Tomlin may not treat all his players the same, but his message doesn’t change as he coaches them equally. For instance, Tomlin may give veterans like DL Cameron Heyward and OG Isaac Seumalo a day off during training camp over a young buck like Jones. However, his message and how he coaches them can be the same as Tomlin has high expectations for all his players, regardless of their respective statuses on the team.
Jones is currently taking his lumps as a young player adjusting to the speed and competition level of the NFL game. However, that doesn’t mean that Tomlin is going to coach him any differently than the rest of the guys on the team. Rather, Tomlin coaches his guys fairly, holding them to the standard of becoming a championship-caliber football team while addressing each player the right way to pull their best out of them. That’s what Jones sees in his head coach, wanting to play his best for a guy who genuinely cares for his players individually and collectively.
