For years, I've been screaming from the mountaintops that Mike Tomlin has too much power within the Steelers' organization. The long-time NFL head coach has his hands in too many baskets and is heavily involved with assembling the roster through free agency and the NFL Draft.
On the Still Curtain Podcast, I outlined the biggest issues with the Steelers head coach. Everyone wants to blame the coordinators, but Tomlin hires his coaching staff. They want to blame the talent, but Tomlin insists on having his hands in the roster-building process. They'll argue the game plan is too conservative, but Tomlin's philosophy is minimizing risk and trying to take the football away.
It's nice to know I'm not the only one who sees the underlying issue.
On the latest Shek Show podcast with Dave Dameshek, ESPN beat reporter Brooke Pryor and TribLIVE's Tim Benz called out Tomlin for his 'unchecked power' within the organization.
"[Mike Tomlin] is the one who is going grocery shopping," Pryor said on The Shek Show. "That's the root of all of these problems. If he was in an organization that said, 'Mike, I want you to stay in your office and I want you to figure out a better system. I want you to go into the locker room and talk to these guys... We'll ask you when we're between a couple of players and we want to hear your input. But you don't get to have the final say. You don't get to have almost what feels like unchecked power. Power that feels even more unchecked since Kevin Colbert retired."
"This is Mike Tomlin's show," Pryor continued. "In a lot of ways, he creates the problem, and then he solves it. And then he gets credit for solving it..."
Tim Benz quickly chimed in to obliterate Tomlin with a few analogies.
"We always hear this, Dave, about how he always gets the ship to shore," Benz said, speaking to Dave Dameshek. "The problem is he's also the one who ran it into an iceberg. I've never seen a fireman get credit for starting so many fires."
It's true. And it's about time everyone notices the problem.
Steelers must reduce Mike Tomlin's power over the organization
When you give ultimate power to an emperor, it's hard to it's hard to reduce it. But that's what needs to be done if the Pittsburgh Steelers want to get back to Super Bowl contention.
Nobody is going to argue that Mike Tomlin isn't a great coach. From the time he signed with the organization, he brought a winning mentality to the team and delivered with postseason success. But his responsibilities should begin and end with coaching.
Instead, Tomlin is out on the pre-draft scouting trail (like always). His influence is so significant within the organization that he can choose how to construct the Steelers' roster. It's not a coincidence that, in recent years, Pittsburgh signed and traded for players like Patrick Peterson, William Jackson III, and Myles Jack. If Tomlin has a pre-draft crush, you can bet he'll end up in Pittsburgh (but only after the wheels have already fallen off).
Tomlin also does a poor job of hiding his pre-draft interests. We all knew about his infatuation with Najee Harris during his time at Alabama. If he feels strongly enough about a player, he has the power to make the decisions.
When teams have given unchecked power to head coaches, it doesn't end well. The Houston Texans allowed Bill O'Brien to be both the head coach and general manager the talent on his roster quickly depleted. Even the great Bill Belichick—who is widely considered among the best head coaches in the history of football—drove his roster into the ground as a GM, which eventually led to his firing.
Without a checks and balances system in place, what can the Steelers expect? Mike Tomlin needs to be reduced in his power or the organization will be forced to witness much of the same in the years to come.