Looking back on Mike Tomlin's tenure as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's easy to say it was turbulent. He spent 19 years leading one of the most prestigious football organizations in the NFL, but he only won a single Super Bowl and went to another during his first four years in his post.
After that, Tomlin's career was marked with continuous playoff flubs despite some elite talent on the roster.
Both Joe Haden and James Harrison are players who spent several years with Mike Tomlin as their head coach. They have not shied away from praising their former leader, but they are also willing to call out his shortcomings when necessary. During their recent Deebo & Joe podcast, they spoke on how Tomlin had his own negative traits during his time as the top coach for the Steelers.
Joe Haden explained, "There was a looseness that was going around. That looseness is a reason where errors come in…"
Everyone will tell you how much they were willing to play for Tomlin during his time in Pittsburgh because he is a "players' coach". That means he is buddy-buddy with his players and willing to form meaningful relationships with them. While that pathway for a coach can produce strong results, it also shows why Tomlin failed to provide more Super Bowl victories during his time with the team.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers CB Joe Haden just exposed why Mike Tomlin failed as HC
Gaining respect from the locker room was something Mike Tomlin never struggled with. It was a constant trend from his 19 different teams who wanted to win for him because they felt a strong connection with their head coach. The issue continued to persist as time went on, and Pittsburgh dealt with diva mentalities, which Tomlin would allow to run the show, according to Haden.
"If star players were doing certain things, you just gotta nip it in the bud."
During the podcast, Joe Haden alluded to Tomlin allowing certain diva-like players to have a long leash compared to other players. It appears there was some level of special treatment going around the locker room, especially when you consider names like Antonio Brown and George Pickens. The former coach would let things slide because of the talent level those players possessed.
Allowing different things like absences or tardiness from meetings or practice could create a rift in a locker room. It is something Mike Tomlin has gained plenty of scrutiny over throughout the years, and his mentality in those situations could haunt his legacy.
Haden is absolutely correct when he says this mentality of letting things fester shouldn't have happened, and Tomlin should've ended it in a hurry.
His failures and successes as a head coach of the Steelers were due to his ability to connect with his players. The issue was that Tomlin never could have had the tough conversations when he needed to. He was their coach first, not their pal. That is something that added to the shortcomings in Pittsburgh and saw Tomlin fail to win a playoff game during his final 9 years with the organization.
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