Mike Tomlin under fire? Here’s the reality behind the curtain in Pittsburgh
The noise in Pittsburgh is growing louder. The proud Steelers have lost two straight heading into the first of two (likely) playoff-deciding games against the Ravens. After a 4-1 start, Pittsburgh is 6-6 and another collapse may be just around the corner.At the center of it all is head coach Mike Tomlin. Widely considered one of the best leaders in the NFL, Tomlin has been with his team longer than any other active head coach. But for all the “never had a non-losing season” talk, it’s been eight years since the Steelers won a playoff game. And no one in Pittsburgh cares about the non-losing season record if it doesn’t come with some January success.Externally, many feel like the seat has to be hot on Tomlin. But sources say that is not the case internally.”He doesn’t pay attention to it. It’s been this way since he got (to Pittsburgh,)” said a source. “… He remains focused on winning and doesn’t let the noise affect him.”
Tomlin, 53, signed a three-year contract extension last year that keeps him with the Steelers through the 2027 season. He has been at the helm since 2007. A Steelers head coach hasn’t been fired since 1941, and all indications are it won’t be happening at the end of this season either.As it stands today, there’s a good likelihood Tomlin is back coaching the Steelers in 2026. But in the event he’s not, league sources see two different options.The Steelers could trade Tomlin to another team, collecting what is sure to be a first-round pick for his services. But Pittsburgh would need Tomlin’s blessing as he possesses a no-trade clause, so it would have to be a collective decision among three parties: the Steelers, Tomlin and his next team.
The other option would be a mutual parting of ways, and not the “mutual parting of ways” that saw New England fire Bill Belichick after the 2023 season. But as one source put it, if the Steelers decide a fresh start is needed, “who are they going to hire that will be better?”There is also recent proof-of-concept with a coaching gap year. Sean Payton had a year off before going to Denver, where the Broncos are set to make the playoffs again. Mike Vrabel didn’t land a job after getting canned in Tennessee and now may get a first-round bye in New England. Mike McCarthy spent his year in a garage after Green Bay and then went to the playoffs three times in five years in Dallas. (Now, in the interest of fairness, the year off has not been particularly kind to Pete Carroll in Las Vegas). Here is what is not going to happen: Tomlin is not going to leave to the NFL to go coach in college, and he’s not going to be the next head coach of Penn State football like his former quarterback floated this week.
“Maybe a fresh start for him is what’s best,” Roethlisberger said on his podcast. “Whether that’s in the pros, maybe go be Penn State’s head coach. You know what he would do in Penn State? He would probably go win national championships, because he’s a great recruiter.”Penn State, the first open job in major college football, somehow remains open today after being rejected by a roster of coaches. CBS Sports’ college football reports think the Nittany Lions’ next target is Matt Campbell of Iowa State. Roethlisberger may not have intended to come off as disrespectful, but it’s hard to interpret such a suggestion as anything other than that.
Tomlin makes more money in the NFL than he ever would in college. If available, he would be one of the most sought-after coaches in all of pro football. He hasn’t coached in college in a quarter century and just a few years ago shot down any notion of ever going to that level.Not to mention, Tomlin is a first-option type of coach. “Ben is more concerned about remaining relevant than being real and respectful,” said one source.Yes, things are loud in the Steel City. And Tomlin must shoulder his share of blame should this season go the way last year did. But if I had to rank the NFL head coaches by who cares the least about what’s being said externally, Mike Tomlin is at least tied for the top spot.
Why embattled Giants GM Schoen may keep his jobThere are some press conferences you can win. In most instances, the opportunity to lose a press conference is available. And sometimes, there is no way you can win it, so you just mitigate the damage.That’s what I saw this week when embattled Giants GM Joe Schoen spoke at his scheduled bye week presser. His team has won five games the past two seasons. He’s the architect of the team. The head coach and defensive coordinator have been voted off the island. There was no chance Schoen could win the presser.Schoen’s seat has been hot for a year. It was hot when John Mara decided to keep Brian Daboll and Schoen together at the end of last season. It remained hot when Mara fired Daboll last month and said Schoen would stay on. It is still hot as the losses pile up.
Could Mara change his mind at the end of the season and fire Schoen? Of course he could. Joe Judge wasn’t fired until he talked his way out of the job, opting to lose the press conference after that Bears game toward the end of the 2021 season.But sources say the sense is nothing has yet changed. Naturally, some more competitive games down the stretch would help everyone’s case there (home vs. the Commanders, Vikings and Cowboys, plus a road trip to Las Vegas, remain).
Giants’ Abdul Carter explains why he’s ‘glad’ he’s going through multiple benchings
Jordan Dajani
There’s also the notion that Schoen could lose his job only if Mara’s top head-coach candidate says he will only take the job if Schoen isn’t there. We saw a version of that play out last year in Jacksonville when Shad Khan couldn’t secure anyone’s services while Trent Baalke remained as GM. But sources across the league have spoken highly of Schoen and how great he is to work with.
The Giants head coaching job could be the best on the market this cycle, highlighted by the presence of quarterback Jaxson Dart. I don’t get the sense coaching candidates will balk, if you will, at working with Schoen. Plus, he’s only under contract through the 2026 season. So if it doesn’t work, that coach will likely be part of the group choosing the next GM anyway.Houston’s found solutionsStroud threw for 276 yards and completed 63% of his passes in last week’s return.
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I spent some time in this space two weeks ago applauding the work Houston has done offensively recently, and I think there’s more to it. The Texans got a big AFC South win against the Colts last week in C.J. Stroud’s return, and it showed to some observers that things are clicking again for the quarterback.”Sometimes the best thing you can do to win a game is take a completion, throw the ball away, affect the game with great run checks, and understand field position and when’s the best time and place to scramble,” said one AFC offensive coach. “And when he’s got to put on the cape and be special, those opportunities will present out of necessity.”
The Texans have won four straight, including three wins with backup QB Davis Mills, and the offense has even left some points in the field in the past two wins against the Bills and Colts. It shows an offense that took some time to gel with a first-time play-caller in Nick Caley and a personnel group that needed better play along the offensive line.Through the first nine weeks of the season, the Texans ranked 26th in the league in offensive expected points added (EPA). Since then, Houston is ranked 15th in the league, just behind the Chicago Bears.Sunday night’s game against the Chiefs will be a great challenge for Houston. The Chiefs defense will test Stroud’s discipline with the multiple looks K.C. DC Steve Spagnuolo presents.
Prepare for earlier-than-usual contract negotiationsA plugged-in league source told me this week to keep an eye on teams doing more end-of-season deals this year than in previous seasons. While the salary cap number for the upcoming year is never official until late February or early March, teams are anticipating a big spike. That means that teams will want to beat others to market and lock up guys needing new deals before they learn just how much more money is available in March.Ever since the COVID true-up year of 2021, the cap has gone up fairly dramatically each season. In the four years before COVID, the cap increased on average 6.3 percent year-to-year. In the four years since that 2021 true-up, the cap has increased an average of 11.2 percent year-to-year.One league source anticipates next year’s jump will be even bigger than the past few years, which saw a spike of 13.6 percent year-to-year in 2024 and 9.3 percent this past year.Teams like the Titans and Falcons could be wise to get extensions done earlier for players like Jeffrey Simmons and Drake London, respectively, knowing they wish to retain their services for years to come. While it’s known the Cowboys want to keep George Pickens, might the Packers try to hash out a deal with Rasheed Walker before mid-March? What about Devin Lloyd in Jacksonville?Those are some of the big names, and it will take the players being willing to accept the deals early in order to come to an agreement. But that could lead to another blow to the big free-agency bonanza that used to take place every March.Why punt returners are going bananasBefore this year, it had been a half-decade since a player returned more than one punt for a touchdown in a season. Through Week 13 this year, three guys have done it.New England’s Marcus Jones, Jacksonville’s Parker Washington and Tennessee’s Chimere Dike each have two so far this season. Jones got his Monday night in his 13th game while Washington and Dike have done it in 12 games.Nyheim Hines was the last player with multiple punt return touchdowns, doing so in 2019 for the Colts. Before him, Jamal Agnew did it in 2017. But not since 2016 have there been three players with two or more punt return touchdowns. And you have to go all the way back to 2008 to have four players with two-plus punt return touchdowns.Here’s what’s even more impressive: there are fewer punts than ever before. As recently as 2016, there was an average of 4.5 punts per game. But thanks to better starting field position and coaches being more aggressive on fourth downs, that number dropped to a modern-low of 3.76 puts per game last season. And through 13 weeks there have been just 3.65 punts per game. So these three players are getting these returns with fewer chances than ever.What gives? Each of these six returns have come against different teams, so there’s no weak link to bully.Instead, I’m reminded of the story I wrote back in September when we saw a rash of blocked punts and kicks. The common thread among the special teams coaches I spoke with was there is less practice time than ever before on those plays, in large part because of the time now allocated to the dynamic kickoff. Not to mention, the typical body types of special teamers have changed from team to team because of the new kickoff.It’s reasonable to assume all of that has had a trickledown effect on other areas of special teams. The 11 punt return touchdowns through 13 weeks are the most since there were 12 returned by this point in 2015, and that was with 255 more punts.There has been so much talk about how the ‘K’ balls have impacted field goals, and I understand it to a point. Kickers have attempted 15 field goals of 60 or more yards with eight makes compared to four out of 10 through Week 13 last year (even though there were more attempts of 50-plus yarders last year with better accuracy.) But I think all that talk has obscured a far more fascinating special teams story about how the dynamic kickoff has had greater and more consequential ripple effects across the sport.Key to Carolina turnaround: Morgan’s touch at WRA quick bye week shoutout to Panthers GM Dan Morgan and the Carolina front office. When it comes to the receiver position specifically, the former linebacker deserves high marks. He and his group took Tetairoa McMillan eighth overall in the draft when some teams weren’t as sold on him, and now he’s a month from securing the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.A year earlier, Morgan took Xavier Legette at the end of the first round, and Carolina could use more from him. But Morgan also nabbed Jalen Coker, an important piece of the rotation, in undrafted free agency. But beyond acquiring receivers, look at what he’s been able to get for the receivers no longer in Charlotte.Last year he got a fourth-round pick for Jonathan Mingo, who has caught five passes in nine games for the Cowboys. He got a fifth for a sixth in sending Diontae Johnson to Baltimore, and Johnson has caught three passes for two teams while spending time with a third since the deal.And this week the Vikings waived Adam Thielen after sending Morgan what amounts to a fourth-round pick for the veteran, who had just eight catches before being released.There’s plenty of work ahead of the 7-6 Panthers, but Morgan should be able to enjoy the bye week a little better.Housekeeping note on front office tagsI’m told the NFL is expecting to make things clearer for teams as it relates to who is the true “primary football executive” within teams.The PFE is typically known as the general manager for teams. That person has the usual GM duties, though final say over the 53-man roster has not been a requirement when determining the PFE.But in recent years, teams have created more complex structures in their front offices. In Tennessee, for example, Chad Brinker is the president of football operations and Mike Borgonzi is the GM. Borgonzi is considered the PFE, though there was a lot of conversation at the time of the hire between the team and league about that designation. Both men are listed under the team’s “football executive leadership.”The league aims to make the PFE job duties more descriptive, and it will be up to the league office — and not the teams — on making the determination moving forward.
Publicado: 2025-12-05 15:30:00
fonte: www.cbssports.com
