Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu is one of the greatest defensive players to ever play the game of football, but Polamalu doesn’t think attaining such heights would be possible without the coaches he had in Pittsburgh. On the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, Polamalu said he thinks a lot of players could’ve been as good as him with the support he had in Pittsburgh. He also talked about what he learned from current Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin that helped him become as good as he was.
“He’s an amazing father, coach. Later in my career, we would have DB sessions, [and] I would learn so much from him on protection, routes based on protections. So he’s incredible. So fortunate to have him, Coach [Bill] Cowher, Dick LeBeau. That’s why I just say humbly, but I say in all sincerity, you put anybody in my position, you can’t do nothing but be a Hall of Famer, to be very frank with you,” Polamalu said.
Tomlin coached Polamalu from 2007-2013, and Polamalu clearly has a lot of respect for his former head coach. He’s called him one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, and between learning from Cowher early in his career and LeBeau as his defensive coordinator throughout his career, Polamalu had one heck of a trio of coaches to learn from. Tomlin came up as a defensive backs coach, so he’s keenly aware of that area of the game and it’s cool to hear that he was able to help someone who studied as much as Polamalu learn some nuances of the position.
Polamalu is incredibly humble, and I have a hard time believing that most players could do what he did, but he’s adamant that a lot of safeties could’ve been as good as he was given the support he had in Pittsburgh from the coaching staff. The difference is that not everybody has the work ethic, instincts and smarts that Polamalu did as someone who was often able to almost read the play before it happened. The work he put in on and off the field helped him develop into the player he is, and while there were surely other talented safeties around the league, I’m not so sure that everybody would’ve succeeded if they didn’t have Polamalu’s mindset.
It’s not as if every player who was in his position past or present was able to turn into a Hall of Famer, so it’s fair to say that while coaching mattered a lot, it was the combination of Polamalu’s work ethic, mindset and physical traits that made him into one of the greatest players of all time.
It’s not a surprising thing to hear Polamalu say though as he’s never someone to talk about himself in higher regard than anyone else and he has a lot of respect for players around the league. But not many people, if any, could do some of the things that Polamalu made look routine on the football field.
No matter who they had coaching them.
