It’s a topic I’ve never had to consider before. For all of Mike Tomlin’s flaws and warts, the best thing you could say about his tenure as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach was that he never lost the locker room. Never. And that is a monumental thing. Sure, there were distractions. Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, the latter much more an issue than the former. But that’s not losing the locker room. That’s losing one guy, a literal locker, and Tomlin generally handled those things as well as any coach could.
But now, the conversation is front and center. And, I’ll admit, this is a tough subject to discuss. It’s even more speculation and educated guessing than we usually do, trying to take a look inside the Steelers’ locker room from an outsider view. I’ll completely confess to that.
But right now, it’s unavoidable. It might be the Steelers’ biggest problem and no doubt, they have a bunch of them. Just from what’s on the surface, the locker room doesn’t seem to be in a good place. Some of that is expected following back-to-back losses to 2-10 teams but it’s not just an issue of the Steelers failing to execute.
All you have to do is hear from leadership. FS Minkah Fitzpatrick called out the locker room in the strongest terms, essentially saying players aren’t taking their job seriously enough and just going through the motions, assuming they’ll win. Weeks ago, RB Najee Harris had to bite his tongue to hold back his thoughts on the team’s problems. Some of that may have been coaching-related, his words came just prior to Matt Canada’s firing, but it was clear the locker room was fracturing to that point. Removing Canada might have been a Band-Aid but these losses to the Cardinals and Patriots ripped that off.
In fairness, some of the “problems” are noise. Young, talented receivers showing frustration like George Pickens? They all do that. Sideline arguments? Happens to every team, good or bad, throughout the course of a season. Losses just magnify things.
But the Steelers’ issues seem beyond that. Frustration is also natural after a loss, but you wonder if this group is buying into Tomlin’s message. For as clear as he put the stakes of Thursday’s game against New England, it doesn’t seem like they are. Pittsburgh’s isn’t lacking talent. This isn’t the 2019 bunch ravaged by injuries. They’re playing below their capabilities with sloppy play and self-inflicted errors, even when everything is on the line. Despite losing to Arizona, they somehow came out even flatter versus the Patriots, digging themselves a 21-3 hole before trying to rally late. What a damning sign.
How bad are things right now? Again, it’s hard to say. Typically, the juiciest details aren’t spilled until after a coach is fired. That’s what happened in Carolina once Frank Reich was let go, articles written days later comparing their locker room to “The Hunger Games.” Do I think Pittsburgh is that bad? No. At least, I sure hope not. But if the losing continues, the slipper might fit.
If there’s a coach able to rally things, it might be Tomlin. But 2023 is looking like his greatest test. The one thing you can’t do as a coach is lose that room. Lose a game? That can be corrected. Lose the guys who take the field? There’s no coming back. Pittsburgh needs to show life, fight, and a change in mentality that, of course, improves the results, to show Tomlin still has this group together. Or else it’ll be the biggest knock against him heading into what’s shaping up to be a long offseason.
