Steelers HC Mike Tomlin earned his job as a defensive mind, but nearly two decades on, has he fallen behind? Doug Whaley, a former Steelers front office executive who worked with Tomlin, believes so. A regular guest on 93.7 The Fan, he discussed Tomlin in relation to Brian Flores, their next opponent’s defensive coordinator. Flores served as a senior defensive assistant under Tomlin in 2022, as well.
“It seems like he’s running the same stuff he ran once Dick LeBeau left”, Whaley said of Tomlin, referring to the Steelers’ longtime former defensive coordinator. “When you talk to a lot of the offensive players who played against them, ‘Oh, we knew what they were gonna do’. Very predictable. Where is the evolution”?
It’s true that we have heard from a number of players—active and retired—over the years talking about the similarities in the system the Steelers run on defense. Former Patriots WR Chris Hogan said that “Pittsburgh runs the same defense every single year”. Of course, Tomlin has made some adjustments over the years, but there are certainly similarities to this day.
“That’s why we’re probably seeing a lot of these third-down conversions”, Whaley said, perhaps stretching a bit too far when it comes to making his case against Tomlin’s inflexibility. “Mike Vrabel’s been around long enough to know, ‘Oh, this is what they’re gonna do’. That’s where, I think, the league and especially these young, innovative coaches, are catching up to Mike Tomlin”.
Steelers opponents are 19-for-41 converting on third down against Tomlin’s defense this year. At a 46.3-percent conversion rate, that ranks 28th in the league. Making matters worse, they have also allowed conversions on fourth down six out of nine times. Surprisingly, that only ranks 17th. The red zone is another problem areas, where they have allowed touchdowns on 7 out of 11 opportunities, ranking 20th.
Of course, they rank unfavorably in most categories short of takeaways, which are the only reason they have a winning record right now. This past Sunday, they forced two turnovers near their own goal line, potentially creating a 14-point swing. While Tomlin’s defense hasn’t allowed 400 total yards yet, it hasn’t held any team to 350 or fewer, either.
Former Steelers DC Keith Butler told reporters on his way out the door that Mike Tomlin began taking control over the defense toward the end of Dick LeBeau’s tenure. That, of course, raises the notion that he also largely controlled the defense under Butler—and currently under Teryl Austin.
While there is naturally some collaboration involved, the buck ultimately stops at Tomlin’s desk. He knows and accepts and agrees with that. Recently, he did say that the Steelers have been running more vanilla looks this season so far due to injuries. With Joey Porter Jr. and DeShon Elliott on the mend, could we actually see something different for once?
