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"Secondary Gain" Is Why Mike Tomlin Got The Job And Still Has It Ad Nauseum.
"If that had been a snake it would have bitten me," is a great line from Quinton Tarantino's movie DJANGO. I've missed this Jje ne sais quoi for as long as anyone at PS but it was there all the time:
Mike Tomlin is both highly verbally skilled and Black. When he interviewed for the head coach job after Bill Cowher his interview blew away those of his all White competition. Mike benefited from Unconscious Bias through Secondary Gain. What's the bias:
"BLACKS ARE TOO DUMB TO PLAY QB OR COACH."
I have Unconscious Bias. So does everyone who reads this including Mike Tomlin. It's who we each are.
A subconscious expectation by Tomlin's interviewer [Dan Rooney] was as a Black man he would do less well than his competitors for the job. Tomlin's knowledge equaled his competition. Tomlin's verbal fluency exceeded theirs. The result was a pleasant surprise, as in: "I wasn't expecting that!"
There is no technology to measure "pleasant surprise" but this factor was present in Dan Rooney's decision to hire Tomlin. Add to it Ben's 15-1 and Super Bowl season and we have the makings of a Future HOF Head Coach. Dan's not here to verify or refute my argument and I never called Tomlin a bad head coach. Tomlin's just not all that great and we expected a lot more.
https://diversity.ucsf.edu/programs-resources/training/unconscious-bias-training
https://deadspin.com/steelers-bucs-epitomized-why-todd-bowles-stop-making-1849668117?utm_source=deadspin_newsletter&utm_medi um=email&utm_campaign=2022-10-17
Mike Tomlin is both highly verbally skilled and Black. When he interviewed for the head coach job after Bill Cowher his interview blew away those of his all White competition. Mike benefited from Unconscious Bias through Secondary Gain. What's the bias:
"BLACKS ARE TOO DUMB TO PLAY QB OR COACH."
I have Unconscious Bias. So does everyone who reads this including Mike Tomlin. It's who we each are.
A subconscious expectation by Tomlin's interviewer [Dan Rooney] was as a Black man he would do less well than his competitors for the job. Tomlin's knowledge equaled his competition. Tomlin's verbal fluency exceeded theirs. The result was a pleasant surprise, as in: "I wasn't expecting that!"
There is no technology to measure "pleasant surprise" but this factor was present in Dan Rooney's decision to hire Tomlin. Add to it Ben's 15-1 and Super Bowl season and we have the makings of a Future HOF Head Coach. Dan's not here to verify or refute my argument and I never called Tomlin a bad head coach. Tomlin's just not all that great and we expected a lot more.
https://diversity.ucsf.edu/programs-resources/training/unconscious-bias-training
https://deadspin.com/steelers-bucs-epitomized-why-todd-bowles-stop-making-1849668117?utm_source=deadspin_newsletter&utm_medi um=email&utm_campaign=2022-10-17