All good things must come to an end, so the saying goes.
Make no mistake about it: the Mike Tomlin Era in Pittsburgh has been a good thing. It hasn’t been all that good recently, but there is no denying how good it has been historically under Tomlin in his Hall of Fame career.
But all good things come to an end, and it might be time for the Steelers and Tomlin marriage to come to an end, at least according to former Steelers safety and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning, Clark stated that it’s time for the Steelers and Tomlin to sit down and have a conversation regarding change because the message isn’t getting across the players amid the George Pickens situation this week.
“It’s time for a conversation about change in Pittsburgh. It’s time for Mike Tomlin to go sit with Art Rooney and say, ‘Okay, here are the reasons I think I should stay. Here are the reasons I think I shouldn’t.’ And I think Mr. Rooney should also have that opportunity,” Clark said regarding Tomlin and the Steelers, according to video via ESPN. “When you look at George Pickens, this is not the human they drafted. Now, he had other things that pushed him into the second round because it wasn’t talent. But what we saw from him was a guy that wanted to prove Mike Tomlin right for Mike Tomlin saying, ‘I will raise you,’ Mike Tomlin saying, ‘I embrace you.’ And now we’ve seen that dissipate.
“We’ve seen the same thing with a guy like Diontae Johnson. You saw Chase Claypool not truly even understand team, understand what winning is about. And so when you have a room that is full of those sorts of cancers, it goes to the top.”
Seventeen years is a long, long time in one place. The Steelers are a picture of stability, and historically under Tomlin the franchise has been confident in his ability to take on players with some character red flags and get the best out of them. That’s why they went after Pickens in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Early on, Pickens rewarded them for it. But this year, things have gone off the rails.
It’s not just Pickens, either. Johnson has had effort and attitude issues throughout the season. Along with those two having the issues that they’ve had, players like Najee Harris and Minkah Fitzpatrick have come out questioning the effort and attitude of players within the locker room and guys not putting in the work.
That’s led to conversations about the culture and Tomlin’s messaging potentially not reaching his players anymore. Though some key figures like Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt have downplayed that in recent weeks, it’s more about the actions than the words, and the actions show in recent weeks that the message isn’t quite getting home.
That’s concerning for Clark, which has necessitated the reasoning behind needing to have a conversation about change.
“It goes to messaging, it goes to being able to speak to these players and speak about these players in a way that changes the way they approach the game with professionalism. And that’s not happening inside this locker room,” Clark stated on Get Up. “That lack of effort shown by George Pickens, shown by Diontae Johnson, has now permeated through the entire team. And Mike Tomlin needs to figure out if this is the place for him, because I don’t believe it is, the same way Andy Reid had to leave Philadelphia, and he’s now have had two separate Hall of Fame careers.
“Mike Tomlin needs to do the exact same thing.”
Maybe Tomlin does need to move on. Again, 17 years in one place is a long, long time. Players come and go, but Tomlin has remained the steady presence. But as he’s gotten older, maybe the game has passed him by, and maybe his ability to reach players has dissipated, too. This is a new generation of players, ones who are more focused on branding and individual production rather than team and winning.
Tomlin has struggled to adjust to that if we’re being fair.
A change of scenery could be good for all parties involved. Reid is the easy comparison. During his time in Philadelphia he was a Hall of Fame head coach that had a ton of success. But then, things got stale and he needed a change. He landed in Kansas City and has gone on a remarkable run. Granted, he drafted Patrick Mahomes, giving him the best quarterback in football and one of the all-time greats.
But precedent is there for an all-time great head coach to move on to another situation and still have great success. Tomlin could aim to be the next one to do that.
“But this is what I promise you,” Clark said, “it’s gonna be a lot easier for Mike Tomlin to go somewhere and find success than it is going to be able for the Pittsburgh Steelers to find his successor.”
