Mike Tomlin is already known as the head coach many NFL players wish they could play for. His ability to connect, his overall success, the transparency he’s known for with his team. For those who haven’t been in that building, they got a glimpse of what Tomlin is like throughout the week. The star of last night’s Hard Knocks episode, Pat McAfee thinks that publicity and buzz can become an effective recruiting tool for Tomlin and the Steelers.
“If you’re a free agent, you’re watching that,” McAfee said during the Wednesday episode of his show. “And it’s like, ‘Pittsburgh would be a cool place. Tomlin would be a cool guy to play for.'”
Tomlin and the Steelers were prominently featured during the episode, taking up about 30 minutes of the 55-minute runtime. It showed Tomlin in the defensive meeting room with players and coaches, working on correcting their own issues while devising a game plan to handle Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow, WR Ja’Marr Chase, and new lead RB Chase Brown.
On gameday, Tomlin’s impact was also felt. Preparing EDGE Nick Herbig to battle LT Orlando Brown Jr., beating him for a key sack/fumble that rookie LB Payton Wilson scooped and returned for a touchdown. And calming down WR George Pickens after refs did not penalize Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt on his pick-six. Pickens scored on the ensuing drive.
“You hear it all the time with a bunch of former players,” co-host and former NFL DB Darius Butler said. “Players who have played for Tomlin or players who have been in the NFL. ‘Hey, I would love to play for Tomlin.'”
With the Steelers appearing on Hard Knocks for the first time ever, it was a window into the team to which the outside has never been privy. It’s made Tomlin an even more larger-than-life figure and the way he spoke, motivated, and handled the team was starkly different than the other three AFC North head coaches. Even Bengals fans reacting to the episode have noticed Zac Taylor’s fairly bland message versus the impact Tomlin had.
“Everyone is saying Mike Tomlin was the winner of Hard Knocks last night,” McAfee said.
Ultimately, free-agent decisions come down to lots of factors. Money is often most important. Scheme fit also matters. An episode of Hard Knocks won’t solely sway someone’s decision. But knowing Hard Knocks will run for the rest of the season, Tomlin and the Steelers will get plenty of airtime.
They’ll likely be featured heavily in next week’s episode considering the Ravens are on a bye week and the Bengals don’t play until Monday night, making it difficult for the show to edit and turn around a Tuesday episode (for example, there was no footage of Monday’s Browns-Broncos game shown). Tomlin’s lore will only grow, which certainly won’t hurt a free-agency pitch.
