7 Pittsburgh Steelers who contributed to black history
By Edward Hunt
Mike Tomlin
The Steelers coach has one of the boldest presences of anyone I have ever met. Coach Tomlin is about as assertive as a person as I have ever met. He commands like a general and has been very successful in his history as a coach.
The Steelers ownership put their money where their mouth was in hiring coach Tomlin. The Rooneys pushed for the Rooney Rule which made teams interview at least one Head Coach candidate of Color. This rule benefitted the Steelers.
The Steelers put their money where their mouth was in the hiring process. They interviewed young defensive coordinator, Mike Tomlin, of the Vikings who only had the job as defensive coordinator for one year. It was said that he blew them away in the interview despite not having as experienced as a resume.
The Steelers benefitted from their rule. They only asked that a minority candidate get an opportunity to interview and here was Coach Tomlin who had only been a defensive coordinator for a year and blew them away with the interview. They chose to hire him and the rest was history.
Mike Tomlin became the youngest Head Coach winning Super Bowl XLIII in only his second year and has been a winner throughout his career. The worst record the Steelers have had under Tomlin is 8-8.
Tomlin has had a winning career in Pittsburgh. He has a career record of 133-74-1 according to Pro Football Reference. This is a .600 plus winning percentage and if you think about that over a long period of time that is very successful.
The mark of Tomlin is even though he is a young coach, he is always the alpha male in the room. He is a man among men especially with veterans like Ben Roethlisberger and Maurkice Pouncey int he building. He is like a General and has led the team to many successes. The story is still being written on Tomlin.