When the Pittsburgh Steelers chose former Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin to replace “The Chin” Bill Cowher as head coach last year, many folks said, “Who?”
But in his very first move as head coach, Tomlin did something classy and better yet, smart. Tomlin retained many of the assistant coaches that had worked under Cowher in previous seasons, even if they didn’t fit into his football philosophies. The prime example was keeping defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau around, even though Tomlin had very contrasting ideas on what made a defense effective. The idea behind keeping most of Cowher’s assistants was so that the team kept its chemistry. How many times do we see new head coaches hired and in their first move as commander and chief, they exile every assistant from the previous regime to the unemployment line?
The idea worked, because the Steelers went 10-6 last season and even though he made several mistakes in Pittsburgh’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the postseason, Tomlin proved that he could succeed Cowher.
In his latest move, Tomlin is also proving that no player is above the team. After only completing five of the required eight 100-yard jogs in a recent training camp practice, Tomlin placed Pro Bowl defensive tackle Casey Hampton on the physically unable to perform list. Tomlin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that when Hampton is in shape, he’d come off the PUP list.
Now, this might not seem like a big deal, but it shows that Tomlin is making all of his players accountable. Look at the issues teams like the Bengals and Lions have had over the years with the “prisoners running the asylum,” so to speak. Statements like the ones with Hampton are going to carry Tomlin a long way as a head coach.
