Mike Tomlin is us. The look on his face in the second half of the loss to Indianapolis was a look we’ve all seen before. It’s part disgust and part helplessness. Part embarrassment and part bewilderment. He’s at a loss as we are but there’s one problem he has that we don’t. He has to figure it out and I’m not so sure he wants the chance anymore.
Tomlin is a good football coach who will no doubt need to do some serious soul searching. Perhaps he’s already started doing that but I also know he isn’t giving up and that’s admirable and to be expected of a head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. With three games remaining, the team will need at least two wins if not three to make the postseason. A home finale against the Bengals is followed by challenging trips to Seattle and Baltimore.
I really believed that this game – in Indianapolis – was the one where we would start measuring the effort, passion and desire of this team with four games left and they failed. It was a loss from top to bottom. Ineptitude was evident in all three phases and while the injuries cannot be ignored they also cannot be used as excuses. The Colts were using backups and Practice Squad guys too. They rose to the occasion while we didn’t.
That points back to Tomlin. He’s the head coach, the big cheese, the man in charge and when the team has over 100 yards in penalties on top of numerous mental errors, that comes back to him. So ultimately the question that Art Rooney II must answer is this.
Does Mike Tomlin deserve a chance to rebuild not just the team, but the coaching staff and the entire culture as well?
The only person who can truly answer that isn’t actually Rooney II, it’s Mike Tomlin himself. I would say it is without question that major changes are coming. The entire offensive staff is likely to be sent packing and replaced. There are several defensive coaches who will also be departing if not all of them. To not do these things would be insanity. What Tomlin has been doing the last six seasons has failed. There is nothing to show for the team’s effort and don’t you dare tell me – or him – about “non-losing seasons.”
With one year left on his contract, Tomlin’s future is absolutely in doubt at season’s end. They could trade him or he could decide to walk away and take a year off. They aren’t going to fire him so save your breath and energy. But like I said, this is on Tomlin. Is he willing to accept the changes that are coming? Is he willing to work with coaches he hasn’t worked with before that will bring in new ideas that don’t necessarily square with his coaching beliefs? Because these things have to happen.
You and I will continue to see the same look on Tomlin’s face that we see on our own for the next three weeks but he’s the only one with the power to change it. Will he be given the chance? Will he even want the chance may be the bigger question.
