The Differences in Steelers’ Star Player Treatment Between Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin

[Steeler Nation]

A few years ago, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was the recipient of a large amount of criticism from both former Steelers players and the Steeler Nation fanbase regarding how he managed the locker room. A narrative formed about how Tomlin managed the treatment of star players, in particular during the “Killer B’s Era” from 2016-2018, and that Tomlin did not have control of the locker room due to showing favoritism to star players.

The Steelers team that featured Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell was seen by many to have underachieved, not altogether an unfair assessment given how talented the team was. The first incident that truly had many eyes on Tomlin’s locker room policy occurred when Brown had the Facebook Live incident following the 2016 AFC Divisional Round victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

While Brown was getting over 13 million views off his social media following, Tomlin and Roethlisberger were heard in the background with comments that flared up in the media prior to the 2016 AFC Championship Game vs. the New England Patriots which ended up in a decisive loss. Brown was given a pass with due to his production as a star receiver, but in hindsight, it was viewed as a gaffe by Tomlin.

By the end of an extremely disappointing 2018 season, it was clear that the Steelers were in a total internal meltdown and much of the blame, including by Steelers players, pointed to Tomlin.

Photo via Steel City Underground


According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, a Steelers player stated to him under condition of anonymity:

“Tomlin essentially told the group, we’ll tolerate it now because of what he brings on the field, but the minute production stops, you don’t overlook it.”

Former Steelers linebacker James Harrison was not hesitant when evaluating Tomlin’s stance as a coach, especially when he compared Tomlin to Bill Belichick during his short tenure with the Patriots.

“He has a thing where he says, ‘I’m going to treat everybody fair but I’m not going to treat everybody the same.’ Your fairness may be interpreted as favoritism to other players. And the fact that you’re treating everybody what you call fairly but not the same may be interpreted different by different players. And I think right now it’s a combination of that going on and maybe a little bit of a lack of actual leadership. Someone that’s saying it’s going to be A and B to get to C.”

With reports that Brown was permitted to stay at an Airbnb-style rental home while his teammates were in modest Saint Vincent College dorm rooms for training camp amid other rumors, criticism may be warranted.

However, there is a coach who believed that Mike Tomlin’s nature of handling star players was in line with his own philosophy: former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher.

Bill Cowher, per Heart and Steel:

I’ll admit it: I didn’t treat everybody equally. Sometimes I enforced the rules subjectively. I believed in dealing with situations based on each individual, what I referred to as “production and tolerance.” As long as production was greater than tolerance, I would put up with certain things.

This is an ongoing debate among leaders, and I know some coaches feel differently than I do. But I tried to balance the needs of the team against the actions of an individual.

Photo via Steelers Wire / USA Today

Steelers star players under Cowher in the 90’s​

Cowher was forced into this balance with Barry Foster, the running back who was the Steelers most prolific offensive player in 1992 and 1993. The way that Cowher approached Foster seemed to contradict a little bit of what he said in his own autobiography.

While his production did slip from great to good in 1993, it is worth noting that he also had the most prolific season of any Steelers running back ever. Foster could be as good as any running back when he felt like it and was having a Pro Bowl season in 1993. Foster was a vital part of the Steelers offense, noted that the Steelers had a statement win over the Buffalo Bills, but followed that up with an ugly 2-game losing streak where Foster was sidelined for both games with an ankle injury.

Cowher felt that, even while injured, Foster could still contribute more to the team as a leader and with his presence. But Foster was absent from team activities, and it pushed Cowher.

Simon Bruty / ALLSPORT


Bill Cowher, per Heart and Steel:

“Do you know there’s a team meeting happening now?” I asked.

“I think I should be in the training room,” he replied.

I’d seen and heard enough. His maintenance had been too high, his production had been too low, and his team engagement had been too spotty.

“It’s not up to you to determine where you should be,” I said. “I’ll make it easy for you: Why don’t you just go home?”

Foster went home for the day and would suffer an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Foster was still under contract and returned for 1994, but was never the same player that he was in 1992, and would be out of the NFL by 1995.

Cowher acknowledged there is a loophole in “the production-tolerance ratio.” By opening the door for one person, it’s not that easy to close it behind him.

Since the breakup of the Killer Bees era Steelers, that narrative around Tomlin has not resurfaced. The behavior of Brown since leaving the Steelers suggest that Tomlin handled a difficult scenario extremely well, but one has to always wonder if there was merit to those claims enough that it did prevent a championship caliber team from achieving a Super Bowl?



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