The Steelers under Mike Tomlin view every year as a quest for the Super Bowl and put in work accordingly. They almost always fall short, and almost always well short, but that is the approach they take. Every year is a chance to win the championship, so every year deserves the utmost commitment. The results, unfortunately, don’t reflect the energy—but that’s another topic.
And Tomlin believes that the Steelers in Omar Khan have a more than worthy partner at general manager. Khan, of course, has been with the Steelers even longer than Tomlin. But this is only the third draft in his current role, so we’re still identifying his fingerprints.
“We’re process lovers, and there’s really no shortcut to the pursuit of greatness”, Tomlin said of the Steelers’ pre-draft scouting efforts, via the team’s website. “We spend a lot of time together”, he added, referring to Omar Khan. “We’re not a group that hides behind titles or desks. We’re more of a get-the-job-done collective”.
Tomlin was asked to compare his working relationship with Khan to former Steelers GM Kevin Colbert. He mentioned, as I did, that Khan has been here even longer. He also added that Khan has been a part of the process with Colbert all along, so much of what is taking place now is a continuation of the relationship that has always existed.
When the Steelers promoted Khan to succeed Colbert, he was perceived as more of an accounting guy than a personnel guy. Perhaps there is some truth to that, suggested by their adding Andy Weidl as his assistant. Weidl has a long history of scouting and personnel evaluation, but it’s still Tomlin and Khan on the top rung.
While Steelers fans might roll their eyes when Mike Tomlin says there’s “no shortcut to the pursuit of greatness”, it is something he is entitled to say. The Steelers might not have achieved much greatness under Tomlin recently, but they have pursued it like hell. The only problem is their pursuit has largely sent them chasing their own tails.
Make no mistake, the results that we see are not the byproduct of a lack of effort. The Steelers have simply not been good enough despite exerting great effort under Tomlin. That should be even more concerning, that their best effort has still brought them no closer to the goal.
Tomlin led the Steelers to a Super Bowl title in his second season in 2008. Two years later, he returned to the title game, but they lost to the Packers. Since then, they have only made one conference finals appearance, and that was in the 2017 calendar year. For those unaware, it is currently 2025, so success of any kind has long eluded them. No matter how many times Tomlin may break bread with a draft prospect before a Pro Day.
