Mike Tomlin's forever existed in a week-to-week way, in word and deed. If something happened before last Sunday, it's rewinding too far back. If something's happening after the coming game, it's too far ahead. And that goes double when he's asked about any such timeframe by one of us annoying reporter types.
I, to paraphrase the man himself, do not care.
Because, while he's more than free to address/avoid any questions he likes from anyone at all, myself included, he's got no authority when it comes to analyzing any slice of his tenure, regardless of timeframes. And within that, I'm about to raise subjects here that'd return nothing more than a "We're focused on the journey at hand" at one of his press conferences.
To start: The team's his. Really his.
Not just as the head coach, but also as the architect. Sure, it's been built in conjunction with Kevin Colbert, then Omar Khan, teamed with Andy Weidl and others in the front office, but Tomlin's the dominant common denominator throughout. Heck, he'll readily acknowledge as much every year at NFL Draft time. And he should. He's known to be deeply engaged at each point in the process, right down to personally attending the most minimal of collegiate pro days.
All of which is my winding way of saying that he bears his fair share of the burden for the following recent first-round picks:
• 2018: Terrell Edmunds
• 2019: Devin Bush
• 2020: Traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick
• 2021: Najee Harris
• 2022: Kenny Pickett
• 2023: Broderick Jones
Of those six, the only pick that's fully panned out the way most first-rounders need to pan out ... is the one they gave away. Meaning the one smartly sent to Miami for Minkah. Bush was an epic bust. I've appreciated Edmunds, Harris and now Pickett at times, and I applauded that one occasion on which Jones has been permitted to play. But that isn't exactly extraordinary roster-building there. And if it weren't for T.J. Watt magically sitting there at No. 30 overall in 2017, one could stretch this slump all the way back to Artie Burns the prior year.
This is a killer. All by itself. I could, without apologizing, begin and end the column right here, calling for Art Rooney to strip bare his team's scouting department and procedures, beginning with Tomlin's role right at the top. Because this, more than any short-term shortcoming, is how franchises fall into decade-long ruts.
And it's not as if the second-rounders have saved any face:
• 2015: Senquez Golson
• 2016: Sean Davis
• 2017: JuJu Smith-Schuster
• 2018: James Washington
• 2020: Chase Claypool
• 2021: Pat Freiermuth
• 2022: George Pickens
• 2023: Joey Porter Jr., Keeanu Benton
Aside from a year and change of JuJu being even more dynamic on the field than he was on social media, there's next to nothing in those first five picks. And those five have been followed by ... what, exactly? By Freiermuth over Creed Humphrey right after Maurkice Pouncey retired? By Pickens so that his spectacular potential can be capped by catching one pass a game? By Porter so he can sit half the season behind Levi Wallace? By Benton so he can sit half the season even with Cam Heyward out?
Whether the wounds are self-inflicted or not as applied to usage, that's way, way, way too little to cull from the first two rounds of what's still the most vital form of player acquisition. And no amount of free-agency splash overcomes that.
Once more, this time with an a-hem, there's only one dominant common denominator.
Same goes for the coaching staff.
It's become our city's fourth big-league sport to boo Matt Canada, and every such evaluation couldn't be more spot-on. He's terrible. He should've been fired, in all likelihood, a week after his first jet sweep. He's been colossally responsible for the ugliest offense most of us have seen in a lifetime.
But who was it, when a new coordinator was needed in 2021, that eschewed a legit national search to scour for the best candidates ... in favor of strolling over to Canada's cubicle as quarterbacks coach and letting him know he can move into that shiny new office with the view of the Mon?
How does that even happen?
How did Rooney permit that? Or Colbert? Or simple common sense, for crying out loud?
It's the NFL, home to all 32 such jobs on the planet. For what not so long ago was a marquee franchise in the league. There could've been -- should've been -- robustly qualified candidates crawling all over South Water Street, banging down doors to beg for interviews.
Why weren't there?
Because the head coach prioritizes fealty when it comes to his staff?
Because the head coach prefers not to house potential threats to his own status?
Sorry, but there's no other way to explain, in addition to the Canada debacle, why Brian Flores was allowed to leave to become the Vikings' defensive coordinator rather than the infinitely more sensible move of keeping Flores and bumping Teryl Austin down the ladder. These aren't comparable coaches with comparable pedigrees. Nor with comparable results. Flores' defense is currently ranked 11th in the league, and Austin's is ranked 30th ... with Watt having another DPOY season!
How does that even happen?
How did Rooney permit that? Or Khan? Or simple common sense, for crying out loud?
Look, I could do this all day, but none of us has the time: The Steelers and Titans kick off tonight, 8:15 p.m., at Acrisure Stadium, it's been a short week, and blah, blah, blah.
Whatever, I've got one more. It's the NFL ranks of the running game the past seven years, before which, unless I missed something, Rooney's stressed each year -- every ... bleeping ... year --- that the offense must be able to run. And this is what's been delivered back to the boss' desk:
• 2017: 3.8 yards per carry, 25th
• 2018: 4.2 yards per carry, 24th
• 2019: 3.7 yards per carry, 30th
• 2020: 3.6 yards per carry, 32nd
• 2021: 3.9 yards per carry, 29th
• 2022: 4.1 yards per carry, 25th
• 2023: 3.4 yards per carry, 29th
Deep breath here.
I respect Tomlin. The man. The leader of men. I respect the way he's carried himself here for a decade and a half. I respect what he's meant to the Steelers, to the NFL, to the beautiful game of football. None of that's changed, and I can't imagine any way it would.
I'm also of the firm belief that he's frequently attacked on counts that range from badly blown out of proportion (clock management, challenges) to wholly fabricated (coddles players, can't/won't instill discipline). And that's setting aside the far uglier fare that'll arise from the lowest dregs of society.
But ... you know, he's the one who always says, "Our business is winning," along with similar stuff, right?
This, my friends, ain't it. This ain't winning. Not on any front. Not in player acquisition. Not in player development. Not in the schematics. Not in the execution. Not in the regular season and certainly not in the playoffs, presuming anyone can even recall those.
Can't keep measuring the Standard a single game at a time.
