Mike Tomlin loves to say that the standard is the standard, and for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the standard is winning Super Bowls. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to meet those expectations since 2008. That’s one of the biggest knocks against Mike Tomlin. For all that he has accomplished, he hasn’t been able to get the Steelers another ring and recently, they’ve even struggled to win a playoff game. No one may be more hurt by that lack of success than Tomlin himself.
Appearing on a recent episode of the The Pivot podcast, former Steelers safety Ryan Clark asked Tomlin what it feels like to continue to field competitive teams but fail to capture a Super Bowl victory.
“It’s painful, but life is,” Tomlin said to Clark and hosts Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor. “It’s the quest. Early on, you asked me why am I still excited? Because I’m chasing something. I wanna get back to that. I wanna deliver some real deserving guys that have seen everything that this game has to offer. I wanna see Cam Heyward, I wanna see that confetti rain down on him. I wanna see that confetti rain down on T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick.”
For all of his faults, Tomlin is the ultimate competitor. He doesn’t care about any of his other accolades. The goal for him is to always win a Super Bowl, and any season where the Steelers don’t do that is a failure to him. The lack of success recently has been frustrating for fans, and Tomlin shares in that frustration.
It’s a topic he’s discussed before. Earlier this offseason, he revealed one of his greatest coaching regrets is not getting Maurkice Pouncey a Super Bowl victory. Pouncey was with the team when they lost the Super Bowl in 2010, and the team never reached that point again in his career.
Tomlin has often been called a player’s coach, both as a compliment and a criticism. However, his ability to relate and connect with his players is an important skill. It’s part of why he’s been so successful in the NFL. It’s why a player like Brandon Aiyuk is interested in coming to Pittsburgh.
Tomlin also knows that, despite the patience of the Rooney family, he needs to do a better job in the postseason. Going one-and-done every year is not the standard. However, with the team undergoing some major changes at positions like offensive coordinator and quarterback, Tomlin has a chance to finally see more success this year. Considering the rosters he’s managed to drag into the postseason recently, this year should be a significant upgrade. If all breaks out, the team can go on a Super Bowl run, something Heyward, Fitzpatrick, and Watt have either rarely or never experienced before.
