It didn't take long for Najee Harris to change his tune. After spending the past four years praising Mike Tomlin's leadership as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the running back pulled a full one-eighty after the free agent signed with the Los Angeles Chargers.
In a recent interview with Chris Hayre of KCAL News, Harris was unfiltered in his comments regarding the leadership (or lack thereof) in Pittsburgh.
"We just didn't know anything on offense really," Harris told Hayre. "We didn't have any identity. We had a young guy coming in at QB. I really didn't have nobody to almost learn from on the offensive side."
While Najee bashed his former team for having a lack of a veteran mentor on offense, the finger is pointed at the coaching staff—Mike Tomlin in particular. Early in Harris' career, the Steelers deployed a bunch of unproven players on offense and there was nobody to turn to for guidance. Now the feelings Harris has been harboring have come to the surface.
The Pittsburgh Steelers share the blame for Najee Harris' frustration with lack of leadership
While Mike Tomlin is painted as one of the best leaders in the league, his culture is in danger. Tomlin's hand-selected 2021 first-round pick isn't getting behind him anymore. When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Najee Harris with the hope that he was magically going to fix their rushing attack, they had almost nothing else in place.
A then 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger was in his final NFL season and had already checked out, while Harris just missed the leadership of the previous offensive line as Maurkice Pouncey and Davide DeCastro retired following the 2020 season and Alejandro Villanueva left for the Ravens in free agency.
Mike Tomlin and former general manager Kevin Colbert were left to pick up the pieces in a challenging situation. Still, their makeshift offensive line and lack of direction at quarterback didn't help. Because they didn't take preemptive measures to add veteran leaders to their offense, a young Steelers offense with limited experience was without direction.
Najee has a right to be frustrated with the lack of leadership in Pittsburgh, but he happened to enter the team at a bad time when their previous era of talent was departing. The Steelers' coaching staff doesn't deserve all the blame, but they are far from innocent.