In the last month or so of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone into a bit of a tailspin, putting the season in jeopardy.
After sitting at 7-4 following a win on the road over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers were riding high, having figured things out offensively. Then, the Steelers dropped three straight games, including two in five days to two-win teams in the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots at home, putting them in a very tough spot.
That led to questions and concerns about head coach Mike Tomlin, his ability to lead, and if his message was still resonating in the locker room.
For Steelers special teams captain Miles Killebrew, all that talk about Tomlin losing the locker room is crazy.
Appearing on the Arthur Moats Experience show with former Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats, Killebrew pushed back hard on the narrative that Tomlin lost the locker room during the three-game skid.
“People outside the building have absolutely no idea. Like, they have absolutely no clue,” Killebrew said to Moats, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Anyone who’s ever heard Coach Tomlin address a group of a group of men, they know that he is the motivator of all motivators.
“He will get you to light your hair on fire or run into a brick wall.”
Certainly, fans will read that quote from Killebrew and push back on it, citing the Cardinals and Patriots games. That’s certainly fair. Those were two very winnable games, ones that the Steelers should absolutely have won. But they came up short and it cost them.
It’s the NFL though. Any Given Sunday (or Monday, Thursday, Saturday). There are paid professionals on the other side of the ball, too, with a lot of pride and incentives on the line.
Killebrew isn’t the only player inside the building to back Tomlin and state that all of the outside noise is just that: outside noise. But Killebrew’s voice is a fresh one, rarely heard from.
He was emphatic in his backing of Tomlin, and added that it’s not just the motivating factor, it’s the commitment to his players and the time and effort he puts in, even in Year 17, that continues to resonate throughout the building.
“He does so much. He’s so intentional with it. I don’t think it’s lip service just because of the amount of time and effort,” Killebrew said regarding Tomlin. “I mean, dude has kids, he has a family. He could be out of this building at three o’clock every day. Come in, do the required hours. But he doesn’t. He stays late. He asks a lot of his coaches, of his assistants, and he makes sure that you understand that he has done his due diligence in preparing us for the opponent at hand.
“I can’t say enough about him just because I’ve seen so many different coaches and so many different coaching styles just in my short time in the league.”
Killebrew speaks from experience. As he said, he’s dealt with so many different coaching styles in his eight seasons in the NFL, from Jim Caldwell to Matt Patricia to Darrell Bevell in Detroit, to now three years with Tomlin in Pittsburgh. It’s a welcome change for Killebrew, one that he appreciates and definitely doesn’t take for granted, on and off the field.
So, it can be a popular hot take when things are going bad with the Steelers to wonder if Tomlin’s message is getting stale in the locker room, considering he’s been there 17 seasons and hasn’t quite had the success many have expected in recent years. But the players are telling you exactly how it is inside the locker room when it comes to Tomlin.
Might be time to listen.
