Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I know there's one huge chapter still remaining in the 2010 Steeler season, but is this the greatest coaching job in franchise history?

It has been said many times that Steelers legendary coach Chuck Noll did his best coaching job in the 1989 season, leading the Steelers out of an embarrassing 0-2 start in-which they were outscored, 92-10, to a 9-7 finish, an AFC Wildcard berth, an upset over the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs, and to within 2 points of the AFC Championship game.

Well, that certainly might have been Chuck's best coaching job, but I think Mike Tomlin is in the midst of performing the greatest coaching job in the history of the franchise.

The 2010 Steelers were facing a stacked deck from the beginning. The organization knew they would start the year without Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended the first 4-games due to his off the field behavior. The team also traded away their number 1 receiver in Santonio Holmes. And before training camp even started, they lost Willie Colon, their starting right tackle, for the entire season with an Achilles tendon injury.

This Steeler team was a mostly veteran group that had recently won a couple of Super Bowls. Coming off of a year in-which they didn't make the playoffs, it would have been very easy for them to say, "you know what. It's pretty obvious that we're facing an uphill battle. This isn't going to be our year. What's the point of paying the price? Let's just go through the motions."

Yes, much credit has to be given to the players for maintaining a business-like approach even though they were facing an uphill climb from the start, but that all begins with the coach.

You ever been in a work-situation where your boss overreacts to a problem? How do the employees usually respond? They often overreact as well. But if the person in-charge maintains a cool, calm presence, and assures everyone that things will be okay, the problem gets resolved, usually in a cool, calm manner.

I believe the number 1 job of a head coach or manager is to deal with problems. The X's and O's are important, but there are only so many ways to run a play, it's up to the players to execute.

But when it comes to dealing with a problem, not every person in authority is equipped to handle it. Mike Tomlin sure seems equipped.

The problems just never stopped for Mike Tomlin this year. Even after Roethlisberger returned and that problem was solved, he immediately had to deal with "fine-gate" that led to James Harrison threatening retirement. That could have turned into one huge circus, but it never really did.

And then they lost Aaron Smith, the man the defense can never seem to perform well without. However, after a rough beginning, Ziggy Hood has steadily developed over the course of the season and is now playing at such a high-level, the defense has been able to maintain its dominance.

And they handled the Colon injury quite nicely by signing Flozell Adams, but by mid-season, it was announced that left tackle Max Starks was done for the year with a neck injury.

There is only so much a coach should be asked to handle and still have his team performing at a high level. This team is not only performing at a high level, they're in the Super Bowl.

It seemed like the players really appreciated this latest AFC crown. You could see not only jubilation, but relief on the faces of a lot of those guys. Especially Troy Polamalu, who certainly wasn't 100% coming down the stretch.

I am really impressed with this berth in the Super Bowl. I know the expectations of Steeler fans are pretty high, but regardless of what happens on February 6th, the coaching job that Mike Tomlin has done this year cannot be underestimated.

You can give credit to the front office, the assistant coaches and to the players for performing under so much adversity, but Tomlin deserves a lot of credit for keeping the team together and for helping navigate the ship through maybe the roughest patch in the history of the franchise all the way to the doorstep of its 7th championship.

2 comments:

  1. Good question... it may be the best coaching job, although we must admit that luck played a huge role in this team's success. Like the whistle on the fumble in Miami... the dropped TD pass by Buffalo in overtime... having the Patriots lose to the Jets... this team could've easily been a one-and-done wildcard team if not for some serious good fortune.

    But I agree with your point. Tomlin and his staff did a great job. The Steelers weren't close to being the best team in football this year. That they might win the Super Bowl anyway is downright amazing.

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  2. Yeah, it may be the most improbable Super Bowl berth in franchise history

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