Mike Tomlin continues to win, and he continues to get shots thrown at that winning standard by former players and other media types.
The latest former Steelers great to criticize the franchise and the way the culture is being run under Tomlin’s command is James Harrison, who says he’s had enough of Mike Tomlin’s standard.
Harrison’s biggest gripe was Pittsburgh’s lack of Super Bowl appearances in recent years.
Harrison, a 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee, made five Pro Bowls in his career and was a leading force in the last Super Bowl that the Steelers won 15 years ago under Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers were at the top of the league back then and they executed a dynamic comeback against the Arizona Cardinals and Kurt Warner to win their sixth Lombardi Trophy.
Since then, the Steelers have become a franchise that consistently wins and goes to the playoffs. In fact, they haven’t had a losing season under Tomlin, prior to or after that Super Bowl win.
Pittsburgh Steelers Nation Spoiled
Most fan bases would be in heaven, but not the Black and Yellow. Despite an unprecedented consistent standard of winning these Steelers’ last playoff victory was in January 2017, and Tomlin has been searching for Big Ben’s replacement for years, which has been the main impediment to the Steelers going deep in the playoffs.
What better time to rip your former team than Super Bowl Week?
Harrison joined the growing legion of voices calling for a change at head coach.
Everything unfolded in an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
McAfee asked James Harrison for his opinion on the transition process currently happening with the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and what the realistic expectations should be heading into next season.
“The expectations should never change. I think the expectations have become that we don’t want to have a losing season. I’m not throwing salt to anybody, but, the Pittsburgh Steelers standard is to win Lombardis. When you go into that building, there’s six of them sitting there.”
Mike Tomlin is simply the coach; it seems like Harrison’s problems have to do with the front office and those handling the checkbooks. Without an established quarterback or offensive ingenuity, no NFL team can be a serious contender for a championship. Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and the like have been subpar at best.
To maintain a streak of non-losing seasons as prolific as Tomlin in the AFC, which has been the stronger conference for the last half decade is impressive and should not be taken lightly.
“Right now, we’re not even winning a playoff game,” Harrison griped. “So, I think we need to get back to what the standard of the Pittsburgh Steelers legacy, the lore is. That’s just not what it is.”
What Is Pittsburgh Steelers Legacy Harrison References?
Easier said than done. When Harrison was on the Steelers for the first 10 years of his NFL career, winning Super Bowls in 2005 and 2007, he had Pro Bowl caliber defenders alongside him and Hall of Famers on offense, including a Hall of Fame quarterback.
So, vague references to tradition and what happened back in the day is off the mark, when clearly the team is limited by the talent it currently puts on the field.
Again, that’s not Mike Tomlin’s job. If you grade Tomlin on a head coaching scale as far as underachievers vs overachievers, his track record is off the charts.
Everybody is in such a rush to change something for the sake of change these days. Other than not winning a Super Bowl — which is a rare occurrence when a franchise’s ownership, front office, coaching, players and vision for the future all align in one glorious result — what hasn’t Tomlin displayed to make anyone think someone else will do a better job?
Will they make Kenny Pickett become Terry Bradshaw? No. Will they all of a sudden make George Pickens as consistent and effective as Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes or Antonio Brown?
Is Troy Aumua Polamalu coming back to lead the secondary?
Criticizers of Mike Tomlin and the Steelers winning tradition are weird. Since when do championships in football determine the overall worth of a coach? Especially a head coach who has won already and led his team there twice (’07 and ’10).
A Franchise QB Is What Steelers Need, Not A New Coach
Get a real QB in Pittsburgh, a playmaker with a current style and invest in the overall upgrading of the offensive culture. The defense is always going to rock out. That’s Tomlin’s strength anyway and the true reason why the team is always at the very least playoff contenders.
As far as being among the elite teams in the league again, the Steelers have the head coach to do it. Talk to the bigwigs about being serious, accessing those billions and getting a franchise signal-caller.
Tomlin can only make this patchwork nonsense look marketbale for so long.
Until then, don’t waste my time complaining about Mike Tomlin. That’s low-hanging fruit that players such as Harrison should be ashamed to put into the atmosphere as a card-carrying member of Steelers Nation.
