When Ryan Clark speaks about the Pittsburgh Steelers and says that head coach Mike Tomlin needs to leave on his own accord, it tends to garner quite a bit of attention. On Thursday, Clark spoke again, stating Tomlin needs to chase a Super Bowl elsewhere because his “voice has run stale” with the Steelers after 18 years.
But for former NFL defensive back Domonique Foxworth, who appeared on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning, there’s no evidence whatsoever that Tomlin’s message has grown stale in the Steel City.
“So obviously we all respect what Ryan Clark said and what his insight might be in a Steelers organization,” Foxworth said, according to video via ESPN. “But there’s no evidence that Mike Tomlin’s message has gotten stale in Pittsburgh — at least not by the records that they put out based on the talent that we’ve seen.”
Clark firmly believes that Tomlin needs to go and have his own Andy Reid-Kansas City run elsewhere. Somewhere he can find a franchise quarterback and show just how great of a coach he is by taking another franchise to new heights, because he believes he’s taken the Steelers as high as they can go under him without a franchise quarterback.
Those heights without a franchise quarterback tend to center on a record around .500 and a first-round playoff exit, which the Steelers have done five straight seasons. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, too, leading to a significant drought in the Steel City.
While the playoff drought has been rather frustrating for all parties involved, as Foxworth says there is no evidence of Tomlin’s message growing stale, even while the rosters haven’t been all that good and the team continues to search for an answer at quarterback.
Time and time again, Tomlin finds a way to have the Steelers in the playoff picture with a winning record, doing so by getting his teams to play ugly football, dragging opponents into the mud and finding ways to win low-scoring games.
Tomlin’s message remaining strong was evident during HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this past season when the show followed the AFC North as Tomlin became an even bigger star and players hung on his every word. Even after the loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card Round, capping a five-game losing streak to end a once-promising season, team captain Cameron Heyward pushed back on the question about Tomlin’s message no longer resonating.
“Yeah, I don’t worry about Mike’s message. I worry about our technique and our execution. That’s what I’m really worried about. I just wish we had played a lot better,” Heyward said after the Steelers’ 28-14 loss to the Ravens. “It’s not a message thing; it’s not anything that’s groundbreaking.
“But there was opportunities to be had and we didn’t seize anything today.”
It’s not about what the coach says or what he’s pushing from a motivational aspect. It comes down to the execution on the field. Questions can be raised about Tomlin’s ability to have his teams fully prepared for big games, but the message doesn’t seem to be lost.
Not yet, at least. Maybe that eventually happens, but there’s no evidence that it is happening.
