Tomlin Must Be More Than Just "The Face"

[alittlejazzbird]

From the Beaver County Times....in my opinion, a total load of garbage. But maybe there are those on this board who agree... Thoughts?


01/25/2007
Tomlin must be more than just 'the face'
Bill Utterback, Times Staff

The intriguing momentum generated by the Steelers hiring of head coach Mike Tomlin is fading quickly. The Steelers didn't hire a force. They hired a face.

If he was a force, he would be allowed to interview offensive coordinator candidates, discuss philosophies and find a man who shares his vision. That man would not be Bruce Arians.

If he was a force, he would be allowed to build his defense, with his schemes and his formations, and his hand-chosen staff. The staff would not include Dick LeBeau as defensive coordinator.

The Steelers have an African-American face for the sideline and for television. But they will still employ Bill Cowher's offense. And they will use Cowher's defense. And the club won't have to pay Tomlin nearly as much as it would have had to pay Cowher.

And, as an added bonus to the Rooney retirement fund, the club won't have to make severance payments to assistant coaches who are under contract.

Brilliant. Except Arians, a failed former coordinator now coaching an underachieving receivers' corps, is not the best candidate to coordinate anybody's offense. If Tomlin made a list of 100 men he wanted to interview for the job, Arians would not have been on it.

And LeBeau's defense, built around aging, broke-down linebackers, conflicts with the new coach's vision. If you hired Tomlin for his vision, don't blindfold him. The Steelers management group has fumbled its opportunity to grow the team.

I don't blame Tomlin for surrendering the authority that every head coach deserves. He's 34, and a minority, and carried no leverage into his negotiation with the Steelers. If he hesitated for a moment, Russ Grimm was ready to take the job with every limitation and stipulation the club suggested. Clearly, the Steelers kept the Grimm candidacy alive to pressure Tomlin.

You know Tomlin's agent was feeding him truth: Grimm will take whatever money the Steelers offer. Grimm likes LeBeau. Grimm likes Arians. What do you think, Mike? What are we going to do? What would you do?

Tomlin, a man with a dynamic presence and an encouraging resume, took the job. He put his face in front of the cameras and said thank-you to the Rooneys. And he may regret it.

He's got more to offer than a face.

http://www.timesonline.com/site/news...d=478568&rfi=6

[fansince'76]

Another "Tomlin is a token" article. I agree with you - complete and utter claptrap.

[Big D]

if they would have hired Lane kiffin or brian schottenheimer articles like this would never hit the press. I dont think that the tomlin hire was race motivated

[tony hipchest]

tomlin knows whats best for the team by keeping arians and lebeau. what kind off offense was he planning on showing down bens and the offeses throat. its bad enough we scrapped the majority of our coaching staff but are we gonna scrap all the players too, just to fit in his system? this isnt the 05 saints hes taking over. this is the sb champions.

[polamalufan43]

That article means nothing to me. I think people are still in denial that Cowher is really gone.

~Polamalufan43

[Big D]

Originally Posted by polamalufan43

That article means nothing to me. I think people are still in denial that Cowher is really gone.

~Polamalufan43

Cowhers gone?

[polamalufan43]

Originally Posted by Big D

Cowhers gone?

I know, to tell you the truth that just started sinking in for me when they hired Tomlin.
As they say, "Gone but never forgotten."
~Polamalufan43

[X-Terminator]

Why is anyone surprised by articles like this? It simply shows the abject ignorance of not just sports writers (especially those who work for two-bit hack newspapers like the Beaver County times), but of way too many people in general. This "article" isn't worth the recycled paper it was printed on, and really doesn't deserve the bandwidth I wasted typing this response.

[polamalufan43]

Originally Posted by X-Terminator

Why is anyone surprised by articles like this? It simply shows the abject ignorance of not just sports writers (especially those who work for two-bit hack newspapers like the Beaver County times), but of way too many people in general. This "article" isn't worth the recycled paper it was printed on, and really doesn't deserve the bandwidth I wasted typing this response.

LOL,
I'm not surprised by this at all. More like confused and disgusted. It's annoying that Tomlin hasn't even played a game here yet as HC and the media has already started "feasting".

~Polamalufan43

[Florida_Steelers_Fan]

the guy is an idiot who is promoting an agenda...consider the source and move on, i say. there's no merit to it.