Every coach has their strengths and weaknesses. But a head coach must fit into one of two buckets:
A.) a great schematic coach or B.) a great leader.
In some cases, they can be both, but it’s not the end of the world if they are not. Why? Because in today’s NFL, there is an influx of coaching talent, making it easy to have several people fill different roles for a team.
Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers seemingly do not believe in this notion. Tomlin, a noted leader of men, thrives in category “B”, which was referenced above. However, the team’s refusal to change from the old “Steelers’ Way”, has hindered the team from growing in category “A”.
While there’s no direct way to know what is going on behind the scenes in Pittsburgh, it certainly seems like they are far beyond the times with Tomlin controlling most of the operation. This is something Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberg believes is the team’s biggest problem.
“If Tomlin doesn’t change a lot of what he does, he’s not going to be fired this season… he’s horrible at game management. It’s remarkable,” said Spielberg.
While he holds his tongue at the declaration that Tomlin may get fired, Spielberg isn’t wrong. For all of his positive qualities, Tomlin has deficiencies as a head coach that he and management seemingly refuse to acknowledge.
Let’s just use the example of the challenge. Tomlin, who is 7-for-30 on his last 37 challenge attempts, did not until recently have a specialist in the booth to give the yay or nay on a challenge call. Simple changes from an analytical or staffing perspective like this can make or break a game.
Thursday, Tomlin’s handling of the clock was repeatedly called into question. From burning a timeout to deciding to go for it on 4th and 1 (which the team at least converted) to opting against running the ball ahead of the two-minute warning, throwing incomplete on 3rd and 4th and 2. Those decisions compounded the team’s problems.
Along with this, Tomlin has been just as bad from a schematics perspective. While he may not be calling the offense or defense directly, he has signed on to the recent systems and backed them. Mind you, these are the same game plans that have produced the 26th most offensive yards and given up the 21st most defensive yards in the NFL. Spoiler alert: the years prior have not been much better.
Following Thursday’s loss against the Patriots, Tomlin’s calling card, his leadership seems to be the next in question. With several disgruntled players, the former two-time Super Bowl winner is in danger of losing the locker room.
If that happens and Tomlin no longer carries the traits of A or B, then the next step would be for him to “C” the door.
