Making Trades with Steelers Is a Risky Proposition
Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer revealed on his latest podcast that teams typically have buyers remorse when they sign ex-Steelers players. They just don’t play or display the same character as to when they’re Steelers.
And that’s for one reason — Mike Tomlin.
“It is a superpower of his to keep everyone together on that same page,” Glazer said. “And you don’t hear things about people and Steelers until they leave. I tell people all the time, ‘Don’t do business with Mike Tomlin.’ Don’t because you’re gonna think you’re getting this choir boy, and then they come over here and you’re like, ‘Oh, he ain’t a choir boy. Man, this guy’s disruptive.’ Right? It’s hilarious.”
Tomlin was able to get nine seasons out of Antonio Brown before he went off the rails. For that sole reason, Tomlin can probably deal with any player who has character issues.
Many players have also not panned out after leaving Pittsburgh — Mike Wallace, Le’Veon Bell and Chase Claypool are prime examples. The culture and the stability of the Steelers organization is rare. Bell and Brown have stated multiple times that they regret leaving the Steelers, and how they went about it.
No one in the league gets more out of their players than Tomlin. They have a profound respect for him. Tomlin’s ability to relate to players and earn their respect has been a mainstay for him throughout his coaching career.
An anonymous player poll led by Fox Sports this past February revealed that Tomlin is one of the most highly regarded head coaches in the NFL. 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.
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. The Steelers are also off to promising start this season at 5-2. That streak could be extended to 18.
“I think the players still respond to Mike. That’s No. 1,” Rooney said in January. “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.”
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