Though Mike Tomlin gets painted as a master motivator, don’t overlook his ability to break down the X’s and O’s. On the latest episode of his Christian Kuntz podcast, Kuntz praised Tomlin for being a “film junkie” with a work ethic that doesn’t let up.
“After home games, he doesn’t go home,” Kuntz said on his show. “He goes right to the facility and starts on the next week. He has a hole-in-the-wall office. It’s not his normal office. It’s a hole-in-the-wall with TVs, his keyboard. That man just goes to work. He knows everything about every player on that team, every situation. Every guy’s matchup whose [is] tough.”
It’s one reason why Tomlin has been praised for his in-depth knowledge of opponents during his Tuesday press conferences, outlining their strengths and weaknesses position by position before taking questions from the media. For players, a 1 PM home game means getting to eat dinner at your house. For coaches, the race is on to get ready for the following week. By Wednesday, the game plan has to be handed out to the team, creating a tight turnaround to watch the film and build a strategy.
Tomlin isn’t just watching the stars, either. He’s focusing on every aspect of the game.
“He’ll be talking about guys who rush on field-goal block. He’ll highlight guys rushing on extra points,” Kuntz said. “And people think that’s some off play. That ain’t an off play, bro. That’s a big point. We take that shit seriously. So it’s cool to see. So insightful. I’ve learned so much about football being in these meetings.”
That’s part of Tomlin’s old-school nature. A coach who grew up in the days when analytics and data were afterthoughts, partly because the technology wasn’t there. You learned about the other team by watching them, traditional pen-and-paper scouting. That’s not to say today’s analytics aren’t useful, they’ve sped up the process and undoubtedly help coaches like Tomlin speed through film, but being eager to hit the tape is rooted in his coaching style.
So if the Steelers can knock off the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday and reach 3-0, a huge milestone that would suggest a playoff season is coming, don’t expect Tomlin to go out and celebrate. He’ll head back to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, close an office door, and prepare for Indianapolis.
Check out the full episode below.
