Experience. In life, it's undeniably necessary. In sports? There's more of a debate to be had. Yesterday, we looked at the career resume of offensive line coach Larry Zierlein. Must of us came away with the impression that despite having a tremendous amount of experience coaching at the college level, and to a lesser extent, at the professional level, not much of that experience yielded productive results either in the win column, or in the stat sheets of the offenses working behind his lines.

Today, I'd like to take a look at Mike Tomlin's coaching resume, while keeping an eye on how the Rooney family has made head coaching decisions with their franchise. There have been some valid points made recently by those who are not quite 100% enthused with the selection of Mike Tomlin as the head coach of this proud franchise. Personnel management, both in game and from week-to-week, suspect challenges, and a few crucial tactical misfires are all valid reasons to have reservations about the 16th head coach in Steelers franchise history.

But, to point to his lack of coaching experience as the primary reason for being skeptical, while still professing faith in the Rooneys and how they do business, is incongruous logic.

Since 1969, when Charles Henry Noll was handed the reigns to the organization, there have been just three head coaches at the helm of the team. Noll, Cowher, and now Tomlin. All were under the age of 40. And none had head coaching experience. At any level.

Too long to post the whole story, click link to read the rest......

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