This year, Mike Tomlin is generating a lot of NFL Coach of the Year buzz. He has the Pittsburgh Steelers atop the AFC North, a place very few people expected them to be. He even switched quarterbacks a few weeks ago, and that decision is paying dividends. However, former NFL safety Devin McCourty believes this isn’t Tomlin’s best season. He’s giving that honor to any year he was able to control Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell.
“Mike Tomlin’s had years where Ben Roethlisberger’s been hurt, there’s been a revolving door at quarterback, and they didn’t have the success this team is having, but to even be .500 and have a winning record with those teams was like, ‘How is he doing it?'” McCourty said Tuesday on Pro Football Talk. “The biggest thing Mike Tomlin did? He handled Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, and now we look back at that and say he was God’s gift to football.”
Tomlin certainly did do incredible work by getting as much out of Brown and Bell as he did. The two were among the NFL’s best, but they had some pretty frustrating issues off the field.
Bell was with the Steelers from 2013-18. During that span, he was named an All-Pro three times while also making three Pro Bowls. He was arguably the best running back in the NFL. Injuries cut some of his seasons short, but he also couldn’t stay of his own way.
Bell was suspended multiple times for violating the league’s substance policy, harming his reputation. He ultimately held out for the entire 2018 season when he and the Steelers couldn’t agree on a long-term contract. After that, he bounced between a few teams starting with the New York Jets, never looking the same.
Brown has a much more complicated history. He was with the Steelers from 2010-18, and at his peak, he was arguably the best player in the league. However, as his career went on, stories started to come out about Brown not handling himself professionally off the field. The Steelers traded him before the 2019 season, and the whole world saw just how much of a problem he could be.
The Steelers traded Brown to the Oakland Raiders, but he never suited up for them. His tenure with them was bizarre and marked by insane circumstances. The Raiders released Brown before he ever played a down for them.
From there, things only got worse, the end coming after Brown stripped his uniform off in the middle of a game and ran off the field. He only lasted three years in the NFL after leaving the Steelers, never being as dominant. He’s become the poster child for Tomlin’s ability to work with complicated players.
Those aren’t the only two Steelers with personal issues whom Tomlin has successfully coached, but they are the biggest examples. Getting as much as he did out of them may not be Tomlin’s greatest accomplishment, but it’s undeniably impressive. Tomlin isn’t perfect, but he is a great leader of men. That’s something many other teams wished they had.
