Mike Tomlin’s former safety, Ryan Clark, believes his message in Pittsburgh has grown stale, but beat writer Mark Kaboly doesn’t see the evidence. While the Steelers may not be achieving their desired results, the players, he insists, respond to their head coach. If it is indeed time for Tomlin and Pittsburgh to part ways, it’s not because his messaging falls on deaf ears.
“I believe Mike Tomlin should coach in another organization. Mike Tomlin should be a fresh voice somewhere else”, Clark said on ESPN yesterday. “Because I believe as great as a coach he is, and he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, I believe his voice has run stale there. I believe he’s allowed that team to reach the highest of heights they’re going to reach unless they can get a top-tier quarterback”.
Clark went on to say that he believes Tomlin needs his Andy Reid phase, referencing the current Chiefs head coach. Reid spent years coaching the Eagles, never quite getting over the hump, even reaching the Super Bowl. Since his departure to Kansas City, however, he has been a perennial contender and multiple-time champion.
“No, I do not agree with that”, Kaboly said about Ryan Clark’s comments about Mike Tomlin on 93.7 The Fan. “I don’t buy this staleness of the message. Just look from last year. Half the team’s not even around anymore. You go back three years and you’re looking at eight to 10 people on the team. What message are we talking about”?
The Steelers have had considerable roster turnover, and Tomlin adapts his messaging with every new roster. All evidence suggests that his messages still resonate with players, and that players still want to play for him.
Kaboly said that perhaps Tomlin’s method of going about his business is getting stale, but not his communication. “Maybe the way his decision-making is. I don’t think his message is stale to the players. Every single player that comes in there just absolutely loves him and actually loves to hear him talk and loves to have him motivate him. So I don’t buy that. I do buy potentially the way he goes about his business might be a little antiquated”.
Mike Tomlin does have one Super Bowl ring, and has competed for two, with the Steelers. He actually has two rings, one as an assistant coach with the Buccaneers, in case anyone wanted to remind me. But Steelers fans rightfully don’t care what Tomlin did a quarter-century ago. They don’t even care what he did in 2008. What they care about is what he is going to do in 2025.
The reality is that the Steelers under Mike Tomlin haven’t sniffed a playoff win in nearly a decade. Almost any other team with any other coach would have moved on by now. Pittsburgh hasn’t, and likely won’t for at least another couple years. Presumably, the Steelers want to make a push for a franchise quarterback in 2026 and see how he does developing him.
