Rooney II’s July actions will tell all about Tomlin
Art Rooney II will meet soon with the local media after telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac last week that he can’t imagine a scenario in which troubled and troubling Antonio Brown returns next season. Rooney is expected to discuss all other aspects of the Steelers’ lost season, including his evaluation of the coaching staff. He likely will say nice things about Mike Tomlin.
What Rooney says about Tomlin in July will be more significant.
The Steelers usually give their head coach a contract extension right before training camp when he has two years left on his current deal. That is what they have done with Tomlin, who is signed through the 2020 season. It will be a big story if they don’t extend his deal this summer, a telling indication Rooney isn’t completely happy with his work.
The Steelers didn’t give Bill Cowher an extension after he led them to a Super Bowl win after the 2005 season. That, too, was a big story. I was told Cowher was loyal to Dan Rooney for sticking with him through four non-playoff seasons in a sixyear span from 1998-2003 but wanted to be paid after paying off his debt in full by winning the Super Bowl. Apparently, Rooney balked at paying Cowher more than he believed he was worth. Cowher coached the team to an 8-8 record in 2006 and resigned with one year left on his contract. He never coached again.
I hope it doesn’t come to that with Tomlin. I still believe he’s a good coach, although this season wasn’t his best, the Steelers collapsing from 7-2-1 to 9-6-1. I still expect Rooney to extend Tomlin’s contract. I will applaud that decision.
By now you might have heard, the Steelers have had three coaches — Chuck Noll, Cowher and Tomlin — since 1969. I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I’m thinking they believe in stability.
“I never have [taken it for granted],” Tomlin said a few years back.
The Brown fiasco is the worst moment of Tomlin’s 12 seasons here. He enabled Brown’s erratic behavior every step of the way, although Rooney certainly was complicit. It was Rooney, who said a couple of years ago that Brown’s antics were “little annoyances, with the emphasis on little.” Well, they sure aren’t little now.
But I believe the Brown situation will be resolved with Brown being traded and the Steelers getting a lot back, as well as removing a gigantic headache from their locker room. I also think the team isn’t far from being 12-4 next season, although it didn’t help that Mike Munchak left Monday as offensive line coach to take the same position with the Denver Broncos. It makes no sense that the Steelers allowed him to become a free agent. The team’s linemen adore him. So does Ben Roethlisberger. He’s the best line coach in the NFL. This was a significant loss for the franchise, nearly as much as Brown’s will be as a receiver.
Tomlin already had made changes to his coaching staff, firing outside linebackers coach Joey Porter and running backs coach James Saxon (for no apparent reason) and bringing in Teryl Austin, a veteran coach with NFL defensive coordinator experience, to help with the secondary and perhaps be the coordinator in waiting. It’s unclear if it was Tomlin’s decision to fire Porter — a close friend — or Rooney’s. It wouldn’t be the first time the Steelers instructed a coach to fire a staff member. Dan Rooney did it with the great Noll after the 1988 season. Jed Hughes (linebackers), Hal Hunter (guards-center), Walt Evans (conditioning) and Dennis Fitzgerald (special teams) were fired and Tony Dungy resigned rather than being demoted from defensive coordinator.
But more change is needed. Rooney should order Tomlin to follow the lead of the Atlanta Falcons, who last week reassigned assistant offensive line coach Kyle Flood and put him in charge of clock-management strategy, timeouts and challenges. That’s not an indictment of Falcons coach Dan Quinn. That’s just good business. A person in that role is invaluable. Ask the Penguins, who have Andy Saucier. Ask the Pirates, who have Kevin Roach.
The Steelers would have made the playoffs this season if they had someone in a similar role. Rooney II needs to insist Tomlin hire that someone. For Tomlin’s own good.