Although the season has not been perfect for head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team has secured a winning record and is once again in the playoff hunt come the final week of the regular season. Despite the ups and downs of the season, Tomlin never lost the locker room, and one reason for that may be the way he prepares week in and week out.
Steelers DB Patrick Peterson was on The Rich Eisen Show earlier this week and praised Tomlin for the time he puts in, saying he has never seen a coach study film like Tomlin.
“I’ve never been around a head coach that literally hits all facets of the game,” said Peterson. “Like coach, he don’t rely on analytics to give him his film, coach watching it himself, coach getting his notes or his nuggets himself. He’s not worried about a team of guys to bring him a piece of paper. He just read it off and come into the team meeting room. Coach have all his t’s crossed and his i’s dotted himself, and he does the leg work himself, and like I said, you can’t do nothing but respect that.”
Having a head coach who grinds film and knows what he is talking about is important as it can inspire players to do the same, and it can show in important moments of the game. An example of this is the Week Five game against the Baltimore Ravens. Pittsburgh knew the Ravens liked to play cover zero in big moments of games, so they used that to their advantage, having QB Kenny Pickett hit WR George Pickens to score a touchdown and win the game.
This doesn’t happen unless Tomlin, the rest of the staff, and the players are familiar with the opponent and know what to expect in certain situations. It’s one of the reasons the Steelers are so good in one-score games. They are good in what Tomlin calls the “weighty” moments because the team knows what to expect.
The 2023 season has been far from perfect, but nonetheless, the Steelers have a chance at the playoffs in the final week of the season. If you ask the players why, they’ll all point to their head coach.
