After 10 years, Mike Tomlin (almost) is the same as he ever was
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Neither his second Super Bowl ring nor the passage of time have softened Ike Taylor鈥檚 memories of the Steelers鈥� 2007 training camp, the first under Mike Tomlin.
鈥淚t was hard as hell,鈥� the former cornerback said in his thick New Orleans accent.
Ryan Clark remembered that August heat similarly.
鈥淗is first training camp was awful, and I hated it,鈥� the former safety says. 鈥淚 wish he would get the frick away.鈥�
Well, a decade later and Tomlin isn鈥檛 about to go anywhere. This season, which gets under way in earnest Thursday when players report to Saint Vincent, marks the Steelers鈥� 10th under Tomlin as head coach.
In most NFL markets that milestone might be cause for celebration 鈥� league-wide, coaching tenures are measured in months (38.5 on average), not years. But it鈥檚 status quo in Pittsburgh, where the previous two coaches 鈥� Chuck Noll (1969-92) and Bill Cowher (1992-06) 鈥� averaged 19 years on the job.
So, does a decade on the job mean anything to Tomlin?
鈥淣ot really, no,鈥� Tomlin said flatly at the conclusion of last month鈥檚 mini-camp.
Then, just as the cameras turned off, the coach added: 鈥淵ou really didn鈥檛 expect me to say anything, did you?鈥�
Um, not really, no.
Getting Tomlin to talk about himself is like pulling teeth from an alligator, but the resume can speak for itself. His 92 regular-season victories are the fourth-most in league history by a coach through nine seasons. That doesn鈥檛 take into account his six playoff berths, four division titles, two Super Bowl appearances and one Lombardi Trophy.
Now 44 years old, Tomlin may no longer be confused as Omar Epps鈥� doppelganger, but the self-described 鈥渇ootball junkie鈥� has aged fairly gracefully since taking the reins from Cowher on Jan. 22, 2007. Tomlin is the NFL鈥檚 fifth-longest tenured coach but is remarkably still it鈥檚 fourth-youngest.
And it started in the summer heat of 2007 at Saint Vincent. In Steelers lore, Tomlin鈥檚 first training camp, one of the last under the NFL鈥檚 old collective bargaining agreement which still allowed two-a-day practices in pads, has taken on almost mythical proportions. To hear those who endured, it was more Stalingrad than 鈥淗ard Knocks.鈥�
Tomlin, then a 34-year-old who had never held a coordinator position, announced his presence with authority on a team that was just 18 months removed from the franchise鈥檚 fifth Super Bowl championship.
鈥淗e had to lay it down,鈥� said Taylor. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know him and he didn鈥檛 know us.
鈥淎s players we were going to give (effort), but a lot of guys were probably upset because they had those days off under coach Cowher. Coach T came in and was like, 鈥楲et鈥檚 go!'鈥�
To a man, Tomlin鈥檚 players say his demeanor, on and off the field, has remained the same. More than Xs and Os, Tomlin鈥檚 greatest strength lies in his ability as a master motivator. Though he is loath to admit it, Tomlin is a players鈥� coach. The players who play for him play for him.
鈥淗e is the exact same as he was when he first got here,鈥� said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
But Tomlin鈥檚 staying power is a result of adjusting to the team around him, Clark said. Times have changed over the last decade in the NFL. The team that Tomlin inherited leaned heavily on a suffocating defense, but the Steelers鈥� identity now lies with Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le鈥橵eon Bell and a high-powered offense.
鈥淐oach Tomlin adapted so well to the team he had,鈥� said Clark, who played in Pittsburgh from 2006-13. 鈥淎nd I kind of saw him adapt to the different personalities of the young men, the individuals he would bring in each year. He learned how to coach an elite quarterback (Roethlisberger) and allow him to be those things. He鈥檚 definitely adjusted and adapted who he is sometimes as a coach and as a decision-maker, but he鈥檚 always been the same guy.
鈥淗e鈥檚 always very stoic, very straightforward about the way he approaches the press and deals with the things that come from outside the actual organization. I think he鈥檚 done a good job of staying true to himself but also adjusting with time.鈥�
Training camps have also evolved since 2007. They are no longer the grueling affairs that they were pre-CBA of 2011, but Tomlin鈥檚 camps, still on a small college campus in Westmoreland County in the foothills of the Laurel Highlands, remain among the most physical in the NFL. In that respect, some things never change with Tomlin.
鈥淲hen you鈥檝e got time over the years to kind of figure it out, and do it the way you want to do it, and have the success that he鈥檚 had,鈥� Taylor says, 鈥淗e鈥檚 got the blueprint down pat.鈥�