Mike Tomlin has been the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach for 18 years. For the past 7 seasons it has been very reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day. Enough wins to finish above .500, then a humiliating first round playoff loss.

Rinse.

Wash.

Repeat.

The names on the back of the jerseys have changed, but the results remain the same. The one constant? Mike Tomlin.

Year three of my move on from Mike column.

I should be completely honest here. I like Tomlin. I think he cares greatly for his players and lord knows he is a quote machine. But last time I checked professional sports are about winning championships. Especially in Pittsburgh. The Steelers are still tied for the most Super Bowl championships at six. This isn’t the Cardinals, Jaguars, or Jets. This is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The standard, as Tomlin likes to call it, is not mediocrity. That is exactly where the Steelers find themselves.

The other truth is I was duped this year. At the Steelers bye week, I was feeling pretty good. I convinced myself that Russell Wilson was the professional quarterback the Steelers have been searching for since Ben Roethlisberger’s prime. For the first time in well over a decade I thought the Steelers were Super Bowl contenders. Then…

Crash.

And.

Burn.

This was the worst Tomlin flameout of them all. Even the precious national media has come out and said a change is needed in Pittsburgh.

 

 

Surely this would be the final straw for Art Rooney II. Nope. Not gonna happen.

Surely Mike Tomlin can see that it would be in his best interest to step down as head coach and either take some time off, get a TV gig, or find a new NFL pasture to roam. Nope. That’s not gonna happen either. Tomlin is an egomaniac. Just like he thinks his style can still win in the NFL, he thinks he can still get the Steelers back to the Promised Land.

Like I said, Groundhog Day.

Why make a play for a coach like Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson when you can run this crap back again?

Mike Tomlin still thinks defense wins the day. Yet, looking around the league you see Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Kevin O’Connell, Sean Payton, Matt Lafleur, and Dan Campbell are all offensive minded. Even a defensive guy like John Harbaugh was smart enough to bring in a creative offensive mind like Todd Monken. Mike Tomlin went with the most conservative coach he could find in Arthur Smith.

This would be the perfect time to hit the reset button. Hire a new head coach, tank enough next year with Justin Fields at quarterback so that you draft high enough for the new coach to select his own quarterback. Arch Manning, Drew Allar, Nico Iamaleava, and Garrett Nussmeier will all likely go high in the 2026 NFL Draft. One of them or another quarterback to flashes on the scene between now and then could be the next Steelers quarterback.

The Steelers aren’t going anywhere with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields. They were Mike Tomlin selections, as was Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett. See, Tomlin calls the shots with his roster. He always thinks he can win with guys like that because his defense will dominate.

But they don’t.

Oh, he has some quality players on that side of the ball, but…

TJ Watt had no statistics for his last 127 snaps.

 

Zip. Nada. Nothing. Almost like he wasn’t on the field.

Minkah Fitzpatrick used to be a star. Now you can see him, but only if you look 30 yards down the field.

Patrick Queen came over from Baltimore. As the year went on, it became apparent why the Ravens were willing to let him walk.

Alex Highsmith had his contract extended. He got to Lamar Jackson exactly zero times in the wildcard debacle last Saturday night.

Cam Heyward played his ass off all year. So did DeShon Elliott. Joey Porter is going to be an excellent cornerback.

Yet this defense full of stars and well above average players absolutely caved in the last month and a half of the season. It was almost as if they had some bad turkey at Thanksgiving. Or was it that the schedule got tougher and the Mike Tomlin schemes failed them miserably?

Make no mistake, this is Mike Tomlin’s defense. Teryl Austin, who should be fired, is really just a co-defensive coordinator.

Another thing we will get to see more of is Mike Tomlin favorites, usually veterans. Dan Moore would have been cut two years ago by most other coaches. He is, and always has been, terrible. Then a competent coach would have put 2023 first round pick Broderick Jones at his natural left tackle position. Not Tomlin. Instead we got to see this beauty from the two of them on Saturday night.

 

Another Tomlin favorite was Cam Sutton. Sutton was brought back to Pittsburgh this season but was suspended for the first eight games for spousal abuse. First, he showed he was washed up last year in Detroit. Next, he gets in trouble. Finally, Beanie Bishop more than acquitted himself nicely in Sutton’s place. But Mikey T wasn’t about to not put Sutton back in the lineup. It sure worked out well again Saturday.

 

Then there was Tomlin’s quarterback. Russell Wilson was hand picked by Mike Tomlin. It started well —heck, better than well— but it ended up with Wilson looking like the guy Sean Payton ran out of Denver. With the Steelers mounting a tiny comeback and driving for a score to cut the lead to 7, Wilson chose to throw into triple coverage to Spud Webb, er, Calvin Austin. Meanwhile George Pickens was single covered down the sideline. He never looked that way.

Tomlin is a big Pat Friermuth guy, too. Friermuth was signed to an expensive extension. Why?

 

For ten million dollars, Friermuth’s base salary next year, you would think he could squeeze out that extra yard.

Tomlin is a player’s coach, so this is the kind of crap you see after another humiliating playoff loss.

 

James Pierre wasn’t that close to Lamar Jackson all night.

The reason this season should put the nail in Tomlin’s coffin is the utter collapse the team suffered, culminating in an embarrassing performance in Baltimore Saturday night.

Does this look like a team invested in winning?

 

One of the more bizarre moves of the season was trading for wide receiver Mike Williams. He would make a great play then return to the bench for long stretches. It was truly baffling, and another black mark for Tomlin and Arthur Smith.

This should be it. The Steelers lost 5 straight to end the season after being 10-3. The coaching in the final regular season game bordered on absurd. The Steelers did not hold a lead for so much as a second during their last 5 games. Not only did they get humiliated in Baltimore Saturday, but they quit.

Then there is Tomlin’s entire body of work. He has won playoff games in only four of his eighteen years as head coach. The last Super Bowl appearance was 14 years ago. The last time they had this long of a drought they changed coaches. Bill Cowher took over for Chuck Noll. Cowher was in the Super Bowl four years later. Tomlin only took two years to reach his first Super Bowl. In other words, there is precedent within the organization that a coaching change can lead to success.

There is only one man that can make the necessary change.

 

Art Rooney II is not firing or trading Mike Tomlin. Why? Take your,pick.

  • He doesn’t want to be the first in his family to fire a coach. The Rooneys are loyal.
  • Because of the Rooney Rule, he doesn’t want to fire a black head coach.
  • He doesn’t want to give in to the “noise” from fans, reporters, and talking heads.
  • He just doesn’t care enough about football. He is simply only concerned about the bottom line.

It is baffling, but according to those that cover the team Rooney has already stated no change will be made. This despite his declaration a year ago that winning playoff games needed to start happening.

Right now this is the company the Steelers are keeping.

 

Will Rooney at least demand change and possibly strip Tomlin of some of his power?

Doubtful.

At an absolute bare minimum, someone other than Tomlin needs to hire a legitimate offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and offensive line coach. All three current coaches in those positions are flat out awful.

With Tomlin at the helm it probably doesn’t matter.

Complacency is the road to failure. It is stunning as prominent heads have rolled elsewhere that Rooney doesn’t want to “rock the boat” in Pittsburgh. Bill Cowher won a Super Bowl then regressed to 8-8 the next season. He realized there was some burnout and moved on. Chuck Noll won four —count ‘em, four— Super Bowls and earned the right to go out on his terms. Even then, Dan Rooney met with Noll to give him the required nudge. This drought, and Tomlin’s stubbornness should be enough to shake Rooney out of his complacent state. Will he have a similar conversation with Tomlin?

Apparently not.

Groundhog Day for Steelers fans. Again.

Tomlin’s message is stale. He hires God awful assistant coaches. His mindset is way, way out of date. Finishing in the middle has prevented the Steelers from drafting high enough to get their next star quarterback. It certainly has not led to any playoff magic.

Finally, everyone sees it. That is, except for the one man who could make the necessary change.

So expect the same thing, different year.

  • A stale offense run by a below average coach.
  • An overrated defense with the same names. Trading TJ Watt would be smart. The Steelers don’t do smart.
  • A castoff, mediocre quarterback. Maybe Wilson again. Or Fields.
  • A head coach incapable of managing a game.
  • Quotes that are no longer humorous.
  • Another mediocre finish.

Every Steelers fan is George Pickens right now.

 

I feel ya, George. Zero optimism over here, too.

Two Cent Takes

NFL

~Sunday afternoon was brutal to the ears of NFL fans. The 1:00 game featured Tony Romo, who hasn’t become less annoying. The 4:30 game featured Tom Brady, who hasn’t become less terrible at his job.

~Mike McCarthy WAS fired. I knew it. I couldn’t imagine he was going to last in Dallas. Now, who will lunatic Jerry Jones select? Deion Sanders? Lincoln Riley(oh please)? Does he make a play for Mike Tomlin?

~Mike Vrabel to the Pats was the least surprising coaching hire ever. I bet he gets more than a year to prove himself.

~Sam Darnold cost himself a lot of money with his last two games.

~The Commanders win means yet another team that has won a playoff game since the Steelers won one.

College Football Playoffs

~Notre Dame over Penn State in a really exciting game. It was the first game I picked wrong in the playoffs. I am, quite frankly, stunned this Notre Dame team is going to the championship game. My takeaways:

  • Marcus Freeman is a really good coach and a great motivator.
  • I just can’t believe Riley Leonard can wil a championship. Between him and the equally mediocre receivers Notre Dame just doesn’t have the passing game.
  • Notre Dame had too many offensive line injuries, and the running game suffered greatly.
  • I hate that damn leprechaun.
  • Abdul Carter is a monster and won’t get out of the top five in this year’s NFL Draft.
  • Tom Allen is going to Clemson to be the Tigers defensive coordinator. No loss for PSU, in my opinion.
  • It is true that Drew Allar was dreadful. It is also true that his receivers rarely got open so he could have a few easy throws. The receivers were essentially taken out,of the game plan. That makes life rough for any QB. Still Allar has a lot of growing to do. He is still too immature.
  • Andy Kotelnicki is very creative, and I like that. Sometimes, however, you have to go with what works. I would have liked them to continue to pound the rock, and what ever happened to the Tyler Warren Wildcat at the goal line. I never saw anyone stop it, nor do I think anyone would.
  • James Franklin didn’t do anything egregious, but still the record in big games keeps getting worse. 1-15 at Penn State against top five teams. A lot of those games were understandable because Franklin simply didn’t have as good a team as the opponent. But sometimes he did have a good enough team. I would argue he had the better team this time. He has to find a way to turn that narrative around.
  • Penn State dominated the first half, but should have been up 14-3. Notre Dame came out with fire to start the second half, and Penn State took too long to match that fire.

Ohio State actually had a little more trouble with Texas than I thought they would. Ultimately Texas was too stupid for its own good. Here are my takeaways:

  • It almost felt like that was Ohio State’s down game.
  • This was a game to prove the Buckeyes have multiple receivers that can kill an opponent.
  • Neither team could run the ball.
  • Jack Sawyer is so fake it is disgusting. The same kid that leads the team in intimidating the opponent during pregame and cried profusely about the flag planting after the Michigan game tries to come off as the nice, polite midwestern kid in front of the media. I am not falling for it.
  • Quin Ewers actually played pretty well.
  • The pitch play at the one yard line was inexcusable. I am not a fan of head coaches who call plays, but Sark should know better.
  • Could Sark head to the NFL? I can’t imagine, but apparently overtures have been made.

~Championship Game: I am weary of doubting Marcus Freeman’s ability to motivate his team and to out coach Ryan Day. Ryan Day makes me nervous in big games. At the end of the day, Ohio State simply has a significant advantage in talent. Plus Notre Dame is more banged up. With that in mind, I have the Buckeyes winning it all.

Ohio State 27 Notre Dame 14

If it turns out that way, the bling bling you will be hearing will come from Two Cent Cracked Crystal Ball(#TCCCB).

College Hoops

~Needless to say, Mick Cronin is frustrated. With everything. One night he calls his team soft, then he gets ejected defending them in the next game.

 

In an interview after the Maryland game he made it clear he is not a fan of traveling like an NBA team with these new gigantic coast to coast conferences.

~New Louisville coach Pat Kelsey is energy personified, and he is the best out of timeout coach I’ve seen in quite a while.

 

How can anyone not like Buzz Williams. He reveals he keeps a journal in this presser.

 

~Early January disappoint top 5:

  1. Rutgers 9-8
  2. UCLA 11-6
  3. Arkansas 11-5
  4. Creighton 10-6
  5. Notre Dame 7-9

The Weekly Shiny Penny

First year Kentucky coach Mark Pope with ultimate kindness in searching out this Wildcat fan after the game to sit down and have a chat. Perfect.

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

I saw a lot of people making little jokes about all the bad games over wildcard weekend. They tried to make a clever comparison to the college football playoffs, stating that maybe there were NFL teams that didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs.

Haha?

Nope. Truth. For every sport.

College basketball is the one sport that managed to maintain excitement in their playoff —tournament— after adding teams to the event. They keep hinting at adding even more. That would be a massive mistake. They got away with 68, but more would make it laughable.

Every other sport has added teams to their playoffs. The NHL has been set at 8 per conference for over 40 years. The rest have made much more recent changes, and not for the betterment of their sports.

The NBA now has a play in round that involves teams who finished the whole way down at 10.

MLB keeps adding wildcards to their playoff system under the ruse of keeping more fan bases interested in September. That may be happening, but it waters down the playoffs and reduces the importance of the 162 game regular season.

The NFL now has 7 teams per conference, with only one division winner getting a bye. It is leading to less than competitive first round games.

Now college football has jumped from 4 teams to 12 teams. The first round games and all but one of the quarterfinal games were non competitive. Part of that was a poor system for seeding teams, but some was caused by teams that didn’t belong being included in the playoff.

The other thing that happens by increasing the number of teams is that the seasons drag on too long. All of them. The Penn State/Notre Dame game didn’t get scintilating ratings.  You play a game on a Thursday night a week after New Year’s Day and that is what happens.

It is a money grab in every sport. The more games, the more money you make from TV. However, it waters down your sports postseason. In some cases it allows teams too get hot late and advance ahead of teams that were good all year. In some cases it leads to mismatches. In all cases it makes the seasons drag go too long.

So, go ahead and get your jokes in directed at people that criticized the college football format. All you are doing is proving that every sport allows too many teams into the postseason, thus reducing the importance of the regular season.

So as I see it, the joke is on you.

Just my two cents…