Things Mike Tomlin can do to fix the Steelers next season ( besides resign 🤣 )

[SteelerFan448]

I've been trying to think of something and I just have zero faith he will change his ways and it'll be more of the same from the Steelers.

The best we'll get is a new DC and new OL coach. Maybe another couple of changes with position coaches. That's it.

Bring in a young defensive mind who has control of the defense. No more running Tomlin's scheme.

Let Arthur Smith run his full version of the offense. Don't limit the QBs simply to avoid turnovers--even if that means losing games.

Hire an proven offensive coach. I don't care if he has to dip into the college level, hire a proven teacher and developer. They have way too much invested into this unit to not show improvement.

Once we start seeing the same issues we've seen for years, I think there's a real chance Tomlin gets the Matt Canada treatment from the fans. As much as I want a change of direction, that would be a kinda sad state of affairs for both Tomlin and the Steelers.

 

[diver]

I still don't know what you mean when you say traditional type NT? I asked somebody this before and they never responded? Are we talking body type or what?

I also expect it to trend toward hybrid defenses...which means it still won't be about the NT, it will be about hybrid defenders.

If you're going to throw Tim Lester into the mix then I genuinely can't see what difference there would be between using him or a TE. A prime John L Williams might be a different story.

Steelers took 2 OL and one DL in 2023 and 3 OL and 1 DL in 2024 draft. Not sure what you mean when you say he doesn't know the importance of trenches? Out of 13 draft picks more then half were lineman. The first pics in both drafts were lineman. Your math isn't mathing and your statement isn't making sense.

I mean there could possibly be people who have a problem with Tomlin from day 1 because of the color of his skin....and regardless of what kind of coach he turned out to be or could have been they were never going to accept him. I hope i made that plain.

Yes. Body type has something to do with it. Joel Steed and Casey Hampton. Squat. Big ***. Playing the position in college is important. Maybe that is part of the issue too. Colleges aren't playing the 3-4 as much anymore.

We will see where it trends. You may be right.

Tim Lester was a great FB. He was in no way a hybrid.

I agreed with you about the trenches. That was my point. He has paid attention to them in the draft.

You have made it clear now. It is time to get beyond that nonsense. It's been 18 years. How many more seasons of the Steelers not winning in the playoffs until we all can prove we are not racists?

 

[NoKap#7]

This

99.9999999999999999% of steeler fans do not care if Tomlin is a blackish yellow with a bit of red guy/gal, gay transvestite carnivore who identifies as a they vegetarian (they don't eat BACON)
if he could when a playoff game on a regular basis.

Any Steeler fans knows this common fact.

This is not common fact I can assure you of that. I've been on enough forums and message boards to know better than that...but I'm not going to go back and forth with you about it because u don't know my experiences.

 

[diver]

99.9999999999999999% of steeler fans do not care if Tomlin is a blackish yellow with a bit of red guy/gal, gay transvestite carnivore who identifies as a they vegetarian (they don't eat BACON)
if he could when a playoff game on a regular basis.

Any Steeler fans knows this common fact.

I might have a hard time with the vegetarian part.

 

[BLITZ]

This

This is not common fact I can assure you of that. I've been on enough forums and message boards to know better than that...but I'm not going to go back and forth with you about it because u don't know my experiences.

ok

 

[NoKap#7]

You have made it clear now. It is time to get beyond that nonsense. It's been 18 years. How many more seasons of the Steelers not winning in the playoffs until we all can prove we are not racists?

i never said you ALL were. I'm saying there are some and the number may be bigger then you think. You think if there were they would just come out and admit it? I acknowledge it could be time for Tomlin to part ways with this organization and his departure would not be racially motivated at all...it would be results motivated. I'm just saying I'm not naive about this fanbase either.

 

[Steeltime]

A job he had no business having? He's been to two SBs and has never had a losing season.

Wait, what? Tomlin has never had a losing season?? Ho-lee ****, that changes everything! Sign him to a lifetime contract!!

 

[BLITZ]

i never said you ALL were. I'm saying there are some and the number may be bigger then you think. You think if there were they would just come out and admit it? I acknowledge it could be time for Tomlin to part ways with this organization and his departure would not be racially motivated at all...it would be results motivated. I'm just saying I'm not naive about this fanbase either.

there is racism in the world. but sports is usually the great equalizer. most just care about winning. not saying this is you, but most times if you look for racism you find racism.

 

[diver]

i never said you ALL were. I'm saying there are some and the number may be bigger then you think. You think if there were they would just come out and admit it? I acknowledge it could be time for Tomlin to part ways with this organization and his departure would not be racially motivated at all...it would be results motivated. I'm just saying I'm not naive about this fanbase either.

I have been critical of some on here who try to rewrite history by lionizing Bill Cowher. The end of 2004 sounded pretty similar to what you read now concerning Tomlin. Race has nothing to do with it. Results do.

 

[Steeltime]

Javon Hargrave was great here. The only reason JH isn't on the team today is because the Steelers couldnt match what other teams were willing to pay him so don't do that.

This is tiresome. You challenged us to say what NT's could and should have been drafted and I listed several. The Steelers, under Tomlin's leadership, decided that keeping Hargrave was not worth the money and that having Jets reject Montravius Adams handle the position was the way to go.

As for passing up eventual talents that turned out to be great like Dexter Lawrence I think we all agree that the Steelers were reaching in a lot of these drafts because there were glaring issues which they knew they needed to address such as that particular draft of finding someone or anyone that could cover a TE and yet be solid against the rush. Everybody remembers what Gronk did to Edmunds in the game the previous season before. I think he had like 3 Tds with Edmunds on him. Remember teams were trying to build teams that could take down the Patriots. That means your focus was not on a run game as much as it was Tom and Gronk.

Again, the poor draft choices include Tomlin's input. Why the **** does he get a pass? If he's not responsible for helping put together the roster, making decisions on playing time, making decisions on game preparation and strategy, implementing game plans for every opponent, and if the blame supposedly belongs to Kevin Colbert, Omar Khan, and the players not doing their jobs, then why the **** is he even employed??

When you address the fact that all these NTs or potential tackles were being passed up in the draft just know they weren't just being passed up by Tomlin, but they were being passed up by many coaches because it was becoming or had become a passing league.

The Steelers play a 3-4. Most other teams do not and thus would have much less interest in the NT position.

Again, the decision to play 2 DL is absurd. After getting embarrassed by the Eagles, are you saying Tomlin doesn't have the mental wherewithal to realize that **** IS. NOT. WORKING?????

So he utilizes the exact same approach - verbatim basically - that failed miserably against the Eagles in the game against the No. 1 rushing offense in the NFL. That decision is beyond stupid - it is born-dumb-then-dropped-on-head-as-a-baby-and-hit-in-the-head-repeatedly-with-a-sledgehammer level of stupid.

My point being is that it's not as cut and dry as you make it out to be. Tomlin was in fact right when he said the league in general was moving away from drafting those type of players. Also don't try and pin all the drafting issues on Tomlins shoulders. What part do you think KC and Khan have played in all this??

Mike Tomlin's a great coach. I mean, he doesn't make roster decisions or participate in the draft selections or get his players to execute his brilliant yet repeatedly unsuccessful strategies and doesn't bench players who fail to implement has failing-yet-brilliant strategies or beat good teams and loses to woeful teams at least once per year and has lost six straight playoff games all in blowouts, but he's great.

Got it.

 

[topseed]

The team not having a true nose does not mean they would not have liked one. It just means one wasn't available.

One was most certainly available: Jalen Carter.

The Bears traded the #9 pick in the 2023 draft to the Eagles for their first round pick (#10) and a 2024 fourth rounder.
The Steelers traded up in the very same draft to take Broderick Jones at #14 for their first round pick (#17) and a 2023 fourth rounder.

Had Pittsburgh realized Carter's outstanding potential instead of living in their fears about his off-the-field issues, he could have been had. And they'd have a game-changing defensive lineman instead of a probable bust who they're forcing to play right tackle.

 

[stuntmanmike]

The rams vs viks playoff game good example of the primary defensive schemes being deployed in NFL this day and age. Viks play a defense like ours 2 down-lineman 2 outside linebackers 2 inside linebackers. The Rams have 3 down-lineman, 1 edge, 2 inside linebackers, 1 outside linebacker. Both defenses are hybrids of the old 3-4 4-3… the viks defense was designed to defend the pass better than existing defenses and The rams defense was designed to defend the outside zone blocking schemes used by the Shanahan offense. Very difficult to defend against it without 3 down to knock off the blocking of its game. Both defenses basically get rid both a middle linebacker and strong safety replacing both with inside defenders against can play the run and cover the pass. You can look at the results of our game and the Rams vs viks to gage both defenses effectiveness. Both the Steelers and viks got whipped. The 2 down-lineman defense is horrible against the run.

 

[MT~Forged]

1) Get rid of the DC and OC and the WRs Coach and OL Coach.

2) GM and Tomlin have to nail it in the draft....the GM has to realize he has an obligation to fill holes mid-season that were not met through the draft (i.e. the WR position for 2024).

You do realize that just because you want a player, doesn’t mean you are going to get them.

If they are going to cost too much against the cap, you don’t get an automatic cap bump.

Just because you want to trade for a player doesn’t require the trade to be done. You can offer anything you want, maybe the other team doesn’t really want to trade. Maybe they are really just looking to use you to better your position with that player. Maybe the player is not interested in truly being traded?

Players getting cut sometimes have ideas on where they would like to go, or not go.

Spots on your team can be worked to be upgraded, while you are still unsuccessful in doing it.

 

[MT~Forged]

carried to two Super Bowls.
tell me two magnificent coaching moves he made to lead those teams to both.

I'll help with one:
1. Wasn’t allowed to get in the way.

Your turn

Fixed it for you

 

[MT~Forged]

I've been trying to think of something and I just have zero faith he will change his ways and it'll be more of the same from the Steelers.

Agreed. 90% of posters on this board know in their hearts this is true

The best we'll get is a new DC and new OL coach. Maybe another couple of changes with position coaches. That's it.

And all of these will be directed to run the same scheme that others obviously could not

Bring in a young defensive mind who has control of the defense. No more running Tomlin's scheme.

If Tomlin wouldn’t allow Dick phuqin LeBeau to run a defense, what makes you think a nobody gets that allowance?

Let Arthur Smith run his full version of the offense. Don't limit the QBs simply to avoid turnovers--even if that means losing games.

Should have done that this year, but that goes 1000% against the offensive philosophy

Hire an proven offensive coach. I don't care if he has to dip into the college level, hire a proven teacher and developer. They have way too much invested into this unit to not show improvement.

I assume you meant OL coach. If so I agree

Once we start seeing the same issues we've seen for years, I think there's a real chance Tomlin gets the Matt Canada treatment from the fans. As much as I want a change of direction, that would be a kinda sad state of affairs for both Tomlin and the Steelers.

What is your magic number of years seeing the same issues, before moving on? Because we have seen the same exact issues since 2015-16. Is your magic number 10, 15, 20?

 

[MT~Forged]

I might have a hard time with the vegetarian part.

Liar, with a few Super Bowl wins even you might think of changing your diet a wee bit

 

[MT~Forged]

i never said you ALL were. I'm saying there are some and the number may be bigger then you think. You think if there were they would just come out and admit it? I acknowledge it could be time for Tomlin to part ways with this organization and his departure would not be racially motivated at all...it would be results motivated. I'm just saying I'm not naive about this fanbase either.

Always someone looking to use the race card. Always someone that lives the “victim” lifestyle.

 

[MT~Forged]

Where would this highly desirable NT play in the 2DL set?

 

[Confluence]

Where would this highly desirable NT play in the 2DL set?

He could take Minkah's spot as it is not being used to defend this past season.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

I still don't agree about the NT. You cant center everything around the NT when you know the game has trended to make the NT relatively ineffective. You especially can't say he doesn't like the NT when multiple of your comrades have even stated he played a guy out of position to fill that position. That doesn't make sense to me that he doesn't like NT. That's flat out false.

If the game was trending back towards rbs being the key to the offenses again and getting away from passing I could see Tomlin switching back to 4-3 with no problem, but everybody knows the NFL and owners don't want to see that so the game will continue towards helping the QB to prosper.

You could very well be right on the fb, but a lot of teams dont use a fb and are just fine running the ball. Nonetheless, I got no issue with what you stated. I think they just don't draft a fb, or roster one because they could just as easily use a TE to do the same thing and not waste that roster spot.

"He doesn't believe games are won in the trenches" this is another foolish and unfounded statement. Not sure where this is coming from but perhaps you need to take a deep breath and get some perspective on what you're typing out on your keyboard. As a matter of fact there was even one person on here that pointed out Coach tomlins issue is trying to establish the run every game, but not having any go to once the run game fails and they fall behind.

I'm like this. There's enough ammo as it is to paint Tomlin in a negative light w/o having to sensationalize or flat out lie about what he likes and doesn't like, or what he's done or hasnt done...especially when his past reflects otherwise. When people start doing that it reflects a deeper issue than anything that has to do with football.

Doesn’t believe games are won in the trenches is specifically from his words

He has flat out said as much in direct quotes
His actions then double down on what he has said…the words came directly from the horses mouth

Do you not remember the stupid things he says is seasons past or just put your blinders on and erase your memory?

Gtfoh-it isn’t a flat out lie, you’re simply not realizing the past things he has said or are in a state of denial…hopefully the former

You can “not agree” as much as you want, it is your prerogative to be wrong and cling to hopes…willful ignorance is some people’s gateway to Hope

 

[Steelr4evr]

there is racism in the world. but sports is usually the great equalizer. most just care about winning. not saying this is you, but most times if you look for racism you find racism.

Usually the biggest racists are the ones fixated on that **** 24/7. The rest of us don't care.

I don't separate people into colors.

 

[Superman]

He's the coach of the team. he knows the team is limited personnel wise. Did you forget the WR core is one of the worst in the league? Of course he's going to focus on ball possession because he has QBs and a WR core that do not have the ability to play from behind on a consistent basis. RW has to be near perfect and you can forget about it period with JF. Its not happening. You would be in the same position if you were coach, if not worse. How would it be any different for any other coach?? Oh yeah I forgot to mention the OL is just avg at this point so against the better teams the pass and run struggle period. He just doesn't have the horses to compete on the same level the upper echelon teams are at...either that or the coaching, or both.

well good goddamn. i see your point. poor mike is being held hostage at the peril of his own coaching and personnel decisions. holy ****. thanks for clearing this up for all of us. now we know why mike always "looks like he was given the worst scenario to a question". it's not because he's a **** coach at xs and os. its not because he makes **** decisions involving game play and clock management. it's not because he's **** at making personnel decisions. he's just a victim here. of his own demise.

 

[Confluence]

Wouldn't a good coach make a game plan to cover his team's weak spots, exploit the weaknesses of the other team and try to win any way possible?

The Steelers of the past decade have tried to do things Tomlin's way, with limited offences and peculiar defenses that allow the other team to gameplan/scheme easily.

The stat sheet for TJ the last couple games demonstrates this in case the actual experience of watching him repeatedly tackle the RB without the ball wasn't enough.

This has been said over and over. If the talent isn't enough to overcome, then scheme and gameplan must reflect that.
If the gameplan is the same regardless of talent, what is the purpose of the coaching staff?

 

[black and gold apex]

Maybe just too much wanting to be a running team, the game today a mix is how playoff teams play. I know Rooney wanted a running game. When your defense cannot get off the field and to many time third and long you cannot be consistent enough to win. Secondly just watching a few of the playoff games and teams showed more physical play in three series than we did on a whole game. We lack big time on this, or tackling ability is just poor. I will say we had a better year than most here thought. Last five games showed we are missing to many things.

 

[Superman]

Wouldn't a good coach make a game plan to cover his team's weak spots, exploit the weaknesses of the other team and try win any way possible?

The Steelers of the past decade have tried to do things Tomlins way, with limited offences and peculiar defenses that allow the other team to gameplan/scheme easily.

The stat sheet for TJ the last couple games demonstrates this in case the actually experience of watching him repeatedly tackle the RB without the ball wasn't enough.

This has been said over and over. If the talent isn't enough to overcome, then scheme and gameplay must reflect that.
If the gameplay is the same regardless of talent, what is the purpose of the coaching staff?

goddammit no. that's not what mike is here for. pay attention.