Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has a reputation as a player’s coach. That sometimes is used as a negative by Tomlin’s detractors. They will say he’s too easy on his players. They’ll say that’s why he doesn’t win as much as they think he should.
Yet Tomlin’s players love him. There are players across the league who speak glowingly about him. Even Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons reportedly said he would enjoy finishing his career in Pittsburgh specifically because of Tomlin. Tomlin’s coaching style is not lost on the players.
But what exactly does that look like? What sets Tomlin apart as a coach?
“I have never seen a coach come in and hang out in the locker room the way that Mike Tomlin does,” ESPN’s Brooke Pryor said on Thursday’s episode of This Is Football. “There is truly something to be said for he is a player’s coach, and that doesn’t mean he coddles them. He’s not sugarcoating things. He’s figured out the perfect combination of being transparent, being brutally honest, but also being there when you need him.”
Managing an NFL locker room means dealing with all types of personalities and backgrounds. What works for one player doesn’t necessarily work for another. It takes a keen eye and patience to work well with all of those players.
You’ll find divas and quiet types. You’ll find players from broken homes and those who had it all growing up. You’ve got players who grew up around the NFL like the Steelers’ own Joey Porter Jr. and players who grew up in rural areas.
For Tomlin to reach all of those types of players is remarkable. Yet Tomlin can spend time with quarterbacks and offensive linemen equally.
“He was standing with Russell Wilson after practice at his locker for a good like five minutes just shooting the breeze,” Pryor said. “I remember a couple years ago, he was talking with some of the linemen about a bar that he likes to go to after he goes and skis. Like he is just a relatable guy in a way that really endears his players to him.”
Having the ability to meet with all those different players where they are is invaluable. It means that when he’s brutally honest, he already has the respect of those players, and they’ll listen. It’s not perfect, but it’s an incredibly important skill.
And it’s not just players in the Steelers’ locker room who love and respect Tomlin. QB Justin Fields joined the team via trade this offseason, but he had already heard how Tomlin was in the locker room. When he arrived in Pittsburgh, he was pleasantly surprised that everything he heard was true.
“I was talking with Justin Fields about that just last week about what surprises you about Mike Tomlin,” Pryor said. “And he’s like, the surprising thing is that he is exactly what you expect and hope him to be, but you don’t really know until you’re in it.”
Steelers fans are completely justified in wanting to see more postseason success out of the team. Heck, that’s what the organization expects. However, those fans who decry Tomlin being a player’s coach as the reason they have failed to have that success really should just listen to the players.
You can watch the entire episode of This Is Football below:
