Anonymous Poll Reveals That Players Want To Play For Mike Tomlin

A recent anonymous player poll led by Fox Sports revealed that Mike Tomlin is one of the most highly regarded head coaches in the NFL. Tomlin’s ability to relate to players and earn their respect has been a mainstay for him throughout his coaching career.

Mike Tomlin came in second to Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell in the category framed as “other than your own coach, which current NFL coach would you most like to play for.” Campbell got six votes, while Tomlin got five.

The first 10 responses in the poll all featured different coaches, 14 names in all, one player even said “everybody’s going to say this, but Dan Campbell.”

Campbell has done a remarkable job in turning around the Lions franchise, and is certainly a coach that players would want to run through a wall for. His aggressive and passionate approach is something that players thrive of off.

Relating to players is a key component in being an NFL head coach. Many coaches fail at that and end up losing the locker room. Josh McDaniels formerly of the Las Vegas Raiders is a prime example. Players tuned out his message, but that wasn’t the case when Antonio Pierce took over as the interim head coach. The team respected Pierce and played hard for him.

Naysayers will say that Tomlin’s message has grown stale, but Steelers president Art Rooney II doesn’t buy that whatsoever. He believes the players still respond to him. Tomlin’s 17-year non-losing season streak suggests that is true.

“I think the players still respond to Mike. That’s No. 1,” Rooney said last Monday in a press conference to a select group of Pittsburgh media members. “He still has the key characteristics that we saw when we hired him. He can keep the attention of a group of 20-year-olds for a whole season, keep them in the fight the whole way. Still feel good about Mike. Obviously if I didn’t, we’d make a change. If Mike wasn’t able to lead us to a championship, he wouldn’t be here. That’s why he’s here.”