The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to underperform, and it's their head coach, Mike Tomlin, who's taking the brunt of the criticism. But it's not just the disgruntled fanbase who believes Coach 'T' needs to go—former Steelers players are voicing their frustration with the long-time head coach.
Trai Essex, a former Steelers offensive lineman, has been vocal about placing the blame for the Steelers' collapse on Tomlin's shoulders, and Essex has criticized Tomlin's 'culture' in Pittsburgh.
And he's not the only one ex-Steeler who thinks Tomlin is overrated.
James Harrison recently spoke out on the Deebo & Joe podcast (with former Browns and Steelers cornerback Joe Haden), where he unloaded a brutally honest Mike Tomlin take.
"I have never been a person that thought Coach Tomlin was a great coach,” Harrison said Monday on the Deebo & Joe podcast. “I thought he was a good. I'll be honest, part of that is because, when I was slated to be the starter when Joey [Porter] left, he drafted, one and two, outside linebackers. Right now, we have coaches on this staff."
Harrison continued by explaining what a good coach should do.
"When I say coaches, I'm saying this as, a coach is someone that tells you what to do, and it doesn't matter if what they're telling you to do is right or wrong," Harrison said. "A good coach gets you to play to your potential. And right now, the players we have on that team, I have seen play, they're not playing up to their potential. A great coach gets you to play beyond your potential."
James Harrison's take on Mike Tomlin will resonate with the Pittsburgh Steelers fanbase
Harrison is preaching to the choir. While most Steelers fans considered Tomlin to be a great head coach at one point or another early in his head coaching tenure, it's hard to make the same case these days. This team is going on a nine-year drought without a playoff win, and the blame has to start up front with Tomlin.
Tomlin made his philosophy of winning clear: the Steelers need to take the ball away and avoid giving the ball away. The problem is that takeaways can't be counted on consistently from game to game and week to week. When the takeaways don't come, Pittsburgh often loses. And the conservative game plan on offense doesn't offer the firepower to overcome their deficiencies.
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Worse yet, Tomlin punishes young players for making mistakes while extending grace to veterans. The Steelers have had major issues developing young talent, and with a head coach who refuses to play his young draft picks at times, it's not hard to see why.
You're free to disagree with James Harrison if you will, but the Steelers legend knows Coach Tomlin as well as any former NFL player does. And most football fans can agree: Tomlin is a good coach—a coach who can raise the floor of a team and help get a franchise to a .500 record every year. But he's not a great coach at this stage of his career.