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Mike Tomlin Being Held to Different Standard
Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011, 6:35 am
By: Gregory Kane, BlackAmericaWeb.com
As a devoted Baltimore Ravens fan, I have no love for the Pittsburgh Steelers or “Steeler nation.” But can we give Steelers coach Mike Tomlin the credit he deserves?
I’m talking especially about the absurd criticism of Tomlin I heard before last Sunday’s American Football Conference championship game.<span style="font-weight: bold"> An interviewer asked Tomlin how he responded to the criticism that while he won a Super Bowl in only his second year as a National Football League head coach, he did it “with Bill Cowher’s players.”</span>
Cowher preceded Tomlin as the Steelers head coach. In the 2005 season, Cowher’s Steelers won Super Bowl XL, putting the smack down on the Seattle Seahawks. Cowher retired as the Steelers coach in January of 2007. Tomlin, who was the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, was hired to replace him.
During the 2008 season, Tomlin’s Steelers beat my beloved Ravens in the AFC championship game to move on to Super Bowl XLIII, where they beat the Arizona Cardinals on that exquisite, thrilling Ben Rothlisberger-to-Santonio Holmes touchdown pass in the closing seconds.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Tomlin shouldn’t get credit for that victory, according to his critics, because he did it with “Bill Cowher’s players.”</span>
In the pre-game interview before his Steelers sent the New York Jets packing, Tomlin responded the only way he knew how to respond: With plain, old-fashioned common sense.
“I don’t care whose players I use,” Tomlin said.
Touché, Mssr. Tomlin. The Steelers coach could have added several things his critics seem to have missed. Coaches now considered legends won championships with other coaches’ players.
Anybody remember a guy named Vincent Thomas Lombardi? He was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants before taking over as head coach of what had been a pathetic Green Bay Packers team in 1959. Lombardi got his squad to the NFL championship game in 1960, where they lost a close one to the Philadelphia Eagles. Lombardi’s teams then won NFL championships in 1961, 1962 and 1965-1967. The Packers under Lombardi also won the first two Super Bowls.
Many players who formed the nucleus of those Packer squads – guys like Bart Starr, Jerry Kramer, Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor – were on the team before Lombardi took over as head coach. When Lombardi led his Packers to that first NFL championship – a 37-0 thumping of the New York Giants – there was not one criticism that he’d won his title using the previous coach’s players.
Don Shula, another NFL coaching legend, took over as head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 1970. As was the case with Lombardi, Shula inherited a losing team. But many of the players who would go on to post the only undefeated, untied season in NFL history were on the squad before Shula arrived. Again, after the Dolphins went 17-0 in the 1972 season, there was no criticism of Shula for doing it with his predecessor’s players.
Who knows what motivates this tater-headed criticism of Tomlin? (I’ll readily concede there might be a racist motive behind it.) Whatever the motive, Tomlin’s critics overlook his other achievements.
1. Tomlin is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl.
2. In only four seasons, he has led his team to two Super Bowl appearances.
3. He is one of the few to win a championship in only his second year as a head coach.
Even Lombardi couldn’t make that claim; his championship didn’t come until his third season. Shula started his career with the Baltimore Colts in 1963. His team didn’t win an NFL championship until 1968, and then his supposedly invincible Colts lost to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
It took Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys, another coaching legend, 12 seasons to win a Super Bowl. Chuck Noll took over as the Steelers head coach in 1969, but didn’t win a Super Bowl until the 1974 season.
<span style="font-style: italic">Lombardi, Shula, Landry and Noll: All coaching legends, but only one (Lombardi) was able to achieve in four seasons what Tomlin has done. And only two – Noll and Landry – can claim to have done it with players either drafted or signed on their watch. Landry was the Dallas coach when the team entered the NFL in 1960; the nucleus of the Noll teams that won four Super Bowls was drafted after he took over as the Steelers head coach.</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Is the criticism of Tomlin valid or just racist drivel? You be the judge.</span>
Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011, 6:35 am
By: Gregory Kane, BlackAmericaWeb.com
As a devoted Baltimore Ravens fan, I have no love for the Pittsburgh Steelers or “Steeler nation.” But can we give Steelers coach Mike Tomlin the credit he deserves?
I’m talking especially about the absurd criticism of Tomlin I heard before last Sunday’s American Football Conference championship game.<span style="font-weight: bold"> An interviewer asked Tomlin how he responded to the criticism that while he won a Super Bowl in only his second year as a National Football League head coach, he did it “with Bill Cowher’s players.”</span>
Cowher preceded Tomlin as the Steelers head coach. In the 2005 season, Cowher’s Steelers won Super Bowl XL, putting the smack down on the Seattle Seahawks. Cowher retired as the Steelers coach in January of 2007. Tomlin, who was the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, was hired to replace him.
During the 2008 season, Tomlin’s Steelers beat my beloved Ravens in the AFC championship game to move on to Super Bowl XLIII, where they beat the Arizona Cardinals on that exquisite, thrilling Ben Rothlisberger-to-Santonio Holmes touchdown pass in the closing seconds.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Tomlin shouldn’t get credit for that victory, according to his critics, because he did it with “Bill Cowher’s players.”</span>
In the pre-game interview before his Steelers sent the New York Jets packing, Tomlin responded the only way he knew how to respond: With plain, old-fashioned common sense.
“I don’t care whose players I use,” Tomlin said.
Touché, Mssr. Tomlin. The Steelers coach could have added several things his critics seem to have missed. Coaches now considered legends won championships with other coaches’ players.
Anybody remember a guy named Vincent Thomas Lombardi? He was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants before taking over as head coach of what had been a pathetic Green Bay Packers team in 1959. Lombardi got his squad to the NFL championship game in 1960, where they lost a close one to the Philadelphia Eagles. Lombardi’s teams then won NFL championships in 1961, 1962 and 1965-1967. The Packers under Lombardi also won the first two Super Bowls.
Many players who formed the nucleus of those Packer squads – guys like Bart Starr, Jerry Kramer, Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor – were on the team before Lombardi took over as head coach. When Lombardi led his Packers to that first NFL championship – a 37-0 thumping of the New York Giants – there was not one criticism that he’d won his title using the previous coach’s players.
Don Shula, another NFL coaching legend, took over as head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 1970. As was the case with Lombardi, Shula inherited a losing team. But many of the players who would go on to post the only undefeated, untied season in NFL history were on the squad before Shula arrived. Again, after the Dolphins went 17-0 in the 1972 season, there was no criticism of Shula for doing it with his predecessor’s players.
Who knows what motivates this tater-headed criticism of Tomlin? (I’ll readily concede there might be a racist motive behind it.) Whatever the motive, Tomlin’s critics overlook his other achievements.
1. Tomlin is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl.
2. In only four seasons, he has led his team to two Super Bowl appearances.
3. He is one of the few to win a championship in only his second year as a head coach.
Even Lombardi couldn’t make that claim; his championship didn’t come until his third season. Shula started his career with the Baltimore Colts in 1963. His team didn’t win an NFL championship until 1968, and then his supposedly invincible Colts lost to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
It took Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys, another coaching legend, 12 seasons to win a Super Bowl. Chuck Noll took over as the Steelers head coach in 1969, but didn’t win a Super Bowl until the 1974 season.
<span style="font-style: italic">Lombardi, Shula, Landry and Noll: All coaching legends, but only one (Lombardi) was able to achieve in four seasons what Tomlin has done. And only two – Noll and Landry – can claim to have done it with players either drafted or signed on their watch. Landry was the Dallas coach when the team entered the NFL in 1960; the nucleus of the Noll teams that won four Super Bowls was drafted after he took over as the Steelers head coach.</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Is the criticism of Tomlin valid or just racist drivel? You be the judge.</span>
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