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Love him or hate him, Madden NAILS the TRUTH in this piece, several times over.
I have been saying these same points for a long time.
Tomlin doesn’t also get to be the GM. He doesn’t have final say in the draft. He doesn’t get to be the shadow defensive coordinator. He doesn’t get to hire his own staff.
In short, Tomlin doesn’t get to indulge his megalomania.
Tomlin gets to be head coach. Everybody’s duties get clearly divided and defined. We get to see who does what and how well they do it. More decisions get made accordingly.
None of that is unfair.
Yes, T.J. Watt is injured, but that defense earns $108 million total and ranks third-last in the NFL, allowing 416.8 yards per game. (I’m not discounting the presence of a lot of bad players.)
The Steelers have a cheap, small coaching staff. Tomlin has no coaching tree.
Matt Canada is not qualified to be an NFL offensive coordinator. He’s got the resume of a journeyman. But Canada got promoted because he was already there, on payroll, and willing to be Ben Roethlisberger’s bobo. Like Randy Fichtner before him.
The Steelers are run inefficiently. It trickles down from weak ownership.
A football guy should be GM, not a bean counter.
The Steelers’ interview process to replace GM Kevin Colbert was a sham. They talked to a host of candidates, then promoted in-house.
First-year assistant GM Andy Weidl is a Pittsburgh guy, which is too important with the Steelers. (Same concept as signing T.J. Watt’s brother and drafting Cam Heyward’s brother.)
But OK, make Weidl GM — in title and duty — and give him final say with personnel and the draft. (Weidl had great positive input with Philadelphia’s draft when he was the Eagles’ vice president of player personnel prior to being hired in Pittsburgh.)
Tomlin gets input, of course, like any coach. But those whose full-time jobs are to scout, draft and oversee personnel shouldn’t be usurped.
The Steelers have ignored the trenches in the first two rounds of the last eight drafts. No offensive or defensive linemen. It’s not difficult to think that has something to do with the coach wanting shiny new toys to play with. It definitely has something to do with the rotten quality of both lines.
The Steelers have picked four wide receivers in the first two rounds since 2017 and took Diontae Johnson in 2019’s third round. Draft a tackle, for heck’s sake.
This hypothesis assumes a lot of things.
But the Steelers being bad is beyond assumption. The stench is overwhelming.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in five years, and it’s going to be six. They’ve won three playoff games in 11 seasons, and it’s going to be 12.
If that’s not Tomlin’s fault, whose fault is it?
It’s not Roethlisberger’s fault.
Roethlisberger’s guile and game management enabled him to orchestrate six fourth-quarter comebacks and an overtime win last season. The Steelers went 9-7-1, making the playoffs. Now Roethlisberger has retired. The Steelers are 1-4.
Tomlin won’t get fired. That’s not how the Steelers operate. Anyway, there’s no guarantee they would hire somebody better.
But Tomlin is failing badly. To set parameters he must follow seems fair, logical and necessary.
In short, Tomlin doesn’t get to indulge his megalomania.
Tomlin gets to be head coach. Everybody’s duties get clearly divided and defined. We get to see who does what and how well they do it. More decisions get made accordingly.
None of that is unfair.
Yes, T.J. Watt is injured, but that defense earns $108 million total and ranks third-last in the NFL, allowing 416.8 yards per game. (I’m not discounting the presence of a lot of bad players.)
The Steelers have a cheap, small coaching staff. Tomlin has no coaching tree.
Matt Canada is not qualified to be an NFL offensive coordinator. He’s got the resume of a journeyman. But Canada got promoted because he was already there, on payroll, and willing to be Ben Roethlisberger’s bobo. Like Randy Fichtner before him.
The Steelers are run inefficiently. It trickles down from weak ownership.
A football guy should be GM, not a bean counter.
The Steelers’ interview process to replace GM Kevin Colbert was a sham. They talked to a host of candidates, then promoted in-house.
First-year assistant GM Andy Weidl is a Pittsburgh guy, which is too important with the Steelers. (Same concept as signing T.J. Watt’s brother and drafting Cam Heyward’s brother.)
But OK, make Weidl GM — in title and duty — and give him final say with personnel and the draft. (Weidl had great positive input with Philadelphia’s draft when he was the Eagles’ vice president of player personnel prior to being hired in Pittsburgh.)
Tomlin gets input, of course, like any coach. But those whose full-time jobs are to scout, draft and oversee personnel shouldn’t be usurped.
The Steelers have ignored the trenches in the first two rounds of the last eight drafts. No offensive or defensive linemen. It’s not difficult to think that has something to do with the coach wanting shiny new toys to play with. It definitely has something to do with the rotten quality of both lines.
The Steelers have picked four wide receivers in the first two rounds since 2017 and took Diontae Johnson in 2019’s third round. Draft a tackle, for heck’s sake.
This hypothesis assumes a lot of things.
But the Steelers being bad is beyond assumption. The stench is overwhelming.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in five years, and it’s going to be six. They’ve won three playoff games in 11 seasons, and it’s going to be 12.
If that’s not Tomlin’s fault, whose fault is it?
It’s not Roethlisberger’s fault.
Roethlisberger’s guile and game management enabled him to orchestrate six fourth-quarter comebacks and an overtime win last season. The Steelers went 9-7-1, making the playoffs. Now Roethlisberger has retired. The Steelers are 1-4.
Tomlin won’t get fired. That’s not how the Steelers operate. Anyway, there’s no guarantee they would hire somebody better.
But Tomlin is failing badly. To set parameters he must follow seems fair, logical and necessary.
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