Mike Tomlin

Latest On Steelers’ QB Competition

June 12th, 2022 at 8:11pm CST by Ely Allen

As Pittsburgh rolls into the post-Roethlisberger era, they are in the less than common situation of having four drafted quarterbacks on the roster. Mind you, the Steelers did not originally draft Mitchell Trubisky, but the point is that while most teams’ third- and/or fourth-string quarterbacks tend to be undrafted long-shots, every quarterback on Pittsburgh’s roster had draft capital invested in them. Mark Kaboly of The Athletic gave a breakdown this weekend of where each of these quarterbacks has slotted through spring practices.

Pittsburgh acquired Trubisky in free agency this offseason after also considering then-free agents Teddy Bridgewater and Jameis Winston. Despite the hole left behind center, the Steelers never seemed to consider trade options such as Baker Mayfield or Jimmy Garoppolo and made it known early that they were not going to acquire Deshaun Watson. Trubisky signed a reasonable two-year deal to compete for the starting job in Pittsburgh after spending last season as Josh Allen‘s backup in Buffalo.

Trubisky saw all of his work this spring come with the first-team offense, throwing almost solely to Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and Pat Freiermuth. Not only did he only work with the first-team, he was the only quarterback to work with the first-team receivers and offensive line combination. Trubisky appears to be a good fit with offensive coordinator Matt Canada‘s motion-heavy offense. Regardless of whether or not this is a clear indication of who will start Week 1, Trubisky is in the mindset that he will win the job saying, “I’m preparing to be a starter. I feel like, no matter what position you’re in, that’s the way you should prepare.”

The quarterback taking snaps with the second-team is not who most would assume. Third-year Steeler Mason Rudolph is currently the second-string quarterback. The former third-round draft pick has started 10 games over his career (eight in his rookie season) with limited success. Despite the potential for him to settle in as someone who had their chance and watched it pass by, Rudolph reportedly “looked the best of the four quarterbacks” this spring. Rudolph is a meticulous worker and preparer and threw the most consistent ball with the biggest body in the group. While many considered him to be nothing more than a camp body, Rudolph put himself in the quarterback conversation, even if it will require some failures from Trubisky and Pickett to get him to the top of the depth chart. “This is the best opportunity I’ve had in four years,” Rudolph told Kaboly. “I am excited, and I look forward to competing.”

Working as the third-string quarterback this spring has been rookie first-round pick Kenny Pickett. Head coach Mike Tomlin and Canada both offered that their current snap distribution is based solely on seniority, with Pickett falling behind Trubisky and Rudolph despite the possibility that he may be the most talented of the bunch. The idea is for Pickett to take the time this spring “to learn how to be a pro,” getting comfortable with the scheme and playbook now so that he can focus on competing for his depth chart spot in the summer. Luckily for Pickett, he has a bit of a leg up in terms of the language of the playbook with some familiarity from the time Canada recruited Pickett to Pitt. Pickett didn’t have too many snaps fewer than Trubisky or Rudolph, but his third-string status had him throwing to a very different receiver group. Pickett said he was “trying to be the best pro (he) can be,” calling this spring “100 percent successful.”

Lastly on the roster is rookie seventh-round draft pick Chris Oladokun. Oladokun transferred from South Florida to Samford to South Dakota State throughout his college career, spending that whole time outside of consistent Power 5 football. According to Kaboly, it showed, as Oladokun “looked like a guy who didn’t get many reps and came from a small college.” Oladokun is a project and his dearth of playing time reflected that, with Oladokun pointing out the importance of staying “locked in” mentally. The benefit of Oladokun’s lowly roster status is that he gets plenty of exclusive time working with David Corley, the assistant to quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan. Whether or not Oladokun ever competes for starting snaps in Pittsburgh, his dedicated time with Corley will foster benefits throughout the future of his career.

For now, the spring depth chart reflects the level of experience, just as Tomlin and Canada have intended. Based on the amount of time Trubisky has had with the first-team, it’s hard to imagine anyone else starting behind center in Week 1 at Cincinnati. Though, with Rudolph coming into his own and the talented rookie, Pickett, hot on their heels, it’s anyone’s guess who the Bengals will face in their season opener.

AFC North Rumors: Ravens, Jackson, Browns, Steelers

February 5th, 2022 at 9:35pm CST by Ely Allen

Ravens’ general manager Eric DeCosta‘s end-of-season press conference touched on a number of subjects, including the contract extension negotiations with star quarterback Lamar Jackson. While The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec does note that head coach John Harbaugh and DeCosta make it seem as if the deal is imminent, it isn’t guaranteed that Jackson signs an extension before the start of the 2022 NFL season.

“I would say that we’re working at Lamar’s pace. He’s comfortable with where we are right now,” DeCosta stated. He did call negotiations “unusual” with Jackson essentially acting as his own agent. There doesn’t seem to be any rush to get a deal done, though. DeCosta acknowledged that the Ravens are fine with Jackson playing on his fifth-year option, and Jackson seems more focused on the team’s unfinished business after being the AFC’s number one-seed in 2020 but failing to make it to a Super Bowl yet.

Here are a few more notes on the AFC North, starting with another item out of Charm City:

DeCosta spoke a bit, as well, about the team’s plan to focus on offensive line this offseason. One of the things that they fear they’ll need to address is the free agency of center Bradley Bozeman. Bozeman moved from guard to center after Matt Skura signed with the Dolphins in free agency last year, and they’re afraid Bozeman’s play has priced him out of Maryland. Baltimore saw Ryan Jensen leave to become the highest paid center in football in 2018, so they’re certainly used to replacing centers. They currently have utility lineman Patrick Mekari, who has started games at all three offensive line positions throughout his young Ravens’ career, and who signed an extension late in the season.
Odell Beckham Jr. and Von Miller became close friends as they rehabbed together in Colorado Springs last offseason, dreaming about eventually playing together. According to George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal, Beckham made it clear that if they were to make it a reality, it couldn’t be in orange and brown. Miller informed Thomas that Beckham told him straight up, “Don’t come to Cleveland.” In the end, Miller was traded to the Rams and, following a nasty separation from the Browns, Beckham signed to join him in Los Angeles. The pair are now set to play in Super Bowl LVI against a team Beckham knows all too well from his time in the AFC North.
With longtime quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retiring last week, head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert represented Pittsburgh at Senior Bowl practices this week. Despite the quarterback group leaving much to be desired through some injury concerns and bad weather, Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus reports that buzz around the event is that the Steelers like Liberty quarterback Malik Willis. Willis has shown the best combination of athleticism and arm strength at practices this week and a source informed Kyed that he’s impressed in interviews, as well. The Steelers currently hold the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and could easily see Willis fall to them, as he’s been seen as a borderline first round pick since declaring. They could also risk potentially missing out on him and trade back later in the first round or early in the second and try to maximize need and value.

Steelers Likely To Retain OC Matt Canada

January 19th, 2022 at 2:55pm CST by Adam La Rose

While the search for a new quarterback, and, eventually general manager, are the dominant storylines in Pittsburgh for this offseason, news has come out with significant implications for the team’s offense. In his end-of-season press conference, head coach Mike Tomlin stated that offensive coordinator Matt Canada will likely return in 2022.

When asked about the offense’s struggles this season, Tomlin expressed confidence in Canada, saying “I’m optimistic about Matt and what he’s capable of doing” (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala). While he added, “I acknowledge we took a step back [on offense]. There’s some obvious tangible reasons why that occurred”, along with an intention to get better on that side of the ball, he is comfortable with giving Canada a second season at the helm.

Mark Kaboly of the Athletic notes that Canada took over as OC this year knowing the team’s emphasis had been placed on an improved running game. With major changes to the playbook, a vastly different offensive line and the drafting of Najee Harris, the team saw a minor uptick in production on the ground. Still, the Steelers ranked 29th in the league with an average of only 93 rushing yards per game.

As for the other elements of the offense, a notable regression took place across the board. The team’s averages in at least 10 major categories saw declines of varying degrees compared to the 2020 campaign. Perhaps the most significant one was the drop in points per game from 26 down to 20.2 – something which contributed to a total of 16 fewer offensive touchdowns being scored than last year, despite there being a 17th game this season.

The unit’s performance in the playoff loss to the Chiefs, which is widely expected to end up being QB Ben Roethlisberger‘s final NFL game, proved the need for drastic improvement going forward. That fact wasn’t lost on Tomlin, who also said, “I am not acknowledging satisfaction with any component of what we did”. He still used the word “attractive”, though, to describe the 50-year-old’s scheme, which he demonstrated in a successful college coaching career and helped him earn the OC role after one season serving as the Steelers’ QB coach.

Regardless of who the starting quarterback is for the Steelers in 2022, then, they will at least have an offensive coordinator with a year of experience and a vote of confidence working with them.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin Denies NCAA Speculation

October 26th, 2021 at 7:36pm CST by Ben Levine

Despite some speculation from talking heads that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin could leave Pittsburgh for the NCAA, the head coach made it abundantly clear today that he has no interest in pivoting to college football.

“Hey guys, I don’t have time for that speculation,” Tomlin said when asked about the rumblings. “That’s a joke to me. I have one of the best jobs in all professional sports. Why would I have any interests in coaching college football? That will be the last time I address that and not only today but moving forward. Never say never — but never. OK? Anybody else have any questions about college jobs? There is not a booster with a big enough blank check.”

Mark Kaboly of The Athletic provides a great explanation of how we even got to this point. A handful of pundits had previously connected Tomlin to jobs at USC and LSU, and Kaboly opines that the whole story was a “media creation.”

As Kaboly writes, Tomlin’s connection to neither the USC job nor the LSU job made a whole lot of sense. He has no connection to the schools, he’d be taking a proverbial step back in terms of job status, and the salary improvement would be insignificant. However, even if there was no truth to the “rumors,” those whispers got loud enough to warrant a question at a press conference.

Tomlin has spent 14 years in Pittsburgh, making nine playoffs and winning one Super Bowl.

Steelers Give Mike Tomlin Extension

April 20th, 2021 at 8:24am CST by Sam Robinson

After guiding the Steelers back to the playoffs, Mike Tomlin received another extension. The 15th-year head coach agreed to terms on a three-year deal Tuesday, one that ties him to the team through the 2024 season. This marks Tomlin’s sixth Steelers extension and his first three-year re-up since 2012.

Tomlin’s most recent contract ran through 2021. The Steelers, who famously have only had three head coaches since 1969, will continue their run of stability into the mid-2020s. Tomlin’s new deal comes shortly after the Steelers and longtime GM Kevin Colbert agreed to terms on another extension. Colbert’s new contract runs through 2022.

The Steelers managed an 8-8 record in 2019, doing so despite Antonio Brown‘s messy departure and Ben Roethlisberger‘s early-season elbow injury. They improved upon that mark last year, starting 11-0 and going 12-4. The Steelers led the NFL in sacks for a fourth straight season, powering the team back to the postseason. While the team endured another disappointing playoff exit, Tomlin has continually placed the Steelers in the NFL’s upper echelon. His next challenge may be daunting as well.

Pittsburgh has lost a few starters and has yet to formulate a true post-Big Ben plan, redoing their 18th-year quarterback’s contract ahead of his age-39 season. Roethlisberger struggled down the stretch and committed five turnovers in the wild-card loss to the Browns. The team ranked last in rushing and is retooling its offensive line, with multiple starters — including perennial Pro Bowler Maurkice Pouncey — moving on. Tomlin will also have a new offensive coordinator in 2021. The Steelers replaced Randy Fichtner with Matt Canada.

Tomlin’s new deal will allow him to coach into his 50s, should he choose to do so. He will match Bill Cowher this season, by coaching the Steelers for 15 years. While Tomlin has a ways to go to match Chuck Noll‘s 23-season tenure, he remains on solid ground.

Mike Tomlin Has COVID-19

February 22nd, 2021 at 1:11pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Unfortunate news to pass along, as Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has been diagnosed with COVID-19, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Needless to say, Tomlin is now away from the facility as the team gets ready for free agency and draft prep. It sounds like there may have been something of an outbreak on the staff, as Rapoport notes that the team confirmed numerous personnel execs and coaches were sent home after multiple positive tests came up.

One of those positives was Tomlin, who despite having coached Pittsburgh for the past 14 seasons is still on the younger side of NFL coaches at 48. The pandemic wreaked havoc on the league all season, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change in the offseason even without games being played.

With almost everything related to the draft and free agency virtual these days anyway, this hopefully shouldn’t hinder the Steelers’ process too much. All of us here at PFR wish Tomlin a full and speedy recovery.

Kevin Colbert On Contract Situation, Mike Tomlin Status

February 18th, 2021 at 7:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Coming off an upset playoff loss, the Steelers have one of the NFL’s most difficult cap situations to navigate. Ben Roethlisberger‘s status is uncertain, and the team faces the prospect of losing several longtime starters in free agency.

GM Kevin Colbert is tasked with leading the franchise out of this predicament, but his status is not locked in for the 2021 season. With the Steelers since 2000, the Pittsburgh native’s contract expires in May. The Steelers gave Colbert an extension by this point in the 2020 offseason, having signed him to a one-year deal on Feb. 5, 2020.

Colbert did not provide assurances he will be back with the Steelers in 2021, though he indicated that discussion with ownership would come.

“Quite honestly, that’s all I deserve because we have to continue to prove ourselves year after year,” Colbert said of his lack of a long-term contract, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Joe Rutter. “We didn’t do good enough. That is the evaluation I’m making on myself. Art (Rooney II) and I will discuss it at the appropriate time.”

The Steelers hired Colbert after he spent every 1990s season with the Lions. Rumblings of Lions interest in rehiring the 64-year-old GM emerged early this offseason, but nothing developed on that front. The Lions agreed to terms with former Rams college scouting director Brad Holmes to succeed Bob Quinn.

Pittsburgh resides in an unusual place, having overtaken Baltimore in the AFC North but seeing its season end after a disastrous wild-card outing against Cleveland. The Steelers have endured upset losses in their past two playoff games, with the loss to the Jaguars three years ago ending a 13-3 season. And they turned an 11-0 record into a 12-4 finish this past season. The Steelers are more than $30MM over the projected $180MM cap, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, Bud Dupree, Alejandro Villanueva, Mike Hilton and James Conner are free agents. Maurkice Pouncey retired last week.

“Coach can only do so much with the players he’s given,” Colbert said of the state of the team’s Mike Tomlin-led roster. “I can provide him with what I think are the right fits. When it works, great. When it doesn’t, we both know we weren’t good enough.”

Tomlin is signed through the 2021 season, and the Steelers have a team option on their coach for the ’22 season. Tomlin has coached the Steelers for 14 seasons. He is one season away from matching Bill Cowher and becoming the third straight Steelers coach to enjoy a 15-year tenure. Tomlin, Cowher and Chuck Noll have been the franchise’s only coaches since 1969.

The Steelers have been to the playoffs eight times under Tomlin, winning Super Bowl XLIII and losing in Super Bowl XLV. But they have only advanced to the AFC championship game once in the past 10 seasons, marking a downturn for the six-time Super Bowl-winning franchise.

“Mike Tomlin has done so much more good in this league than not good,” Colbert said. “Mike is an excellent NFL head coach. He’s won a Super Bowl. He’s been to two. Have we had the success we wanted to have recently? No, that’s a collective ‘we.’ We’ll just continue to work to make sure (a downward trend) doesn’t happen.”

Coaching Notes: Steelers, Cowboys, Giants

January 20th, 2021 at 6:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Steelers made a key staff change last week, promoting Matt Canada to replace offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. But the team will not part ways with DC Keith Butler. The longtime Pittsburgh coordinator agreed to terms on a one-year extension Wednesday, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter). Butler has overseen Pittsburgh’s defense since the franchise split with Dick LeBeau in 2015, and while Butler’s units as a whole have not measured up to his predecessor’s Super Bowl-winning crews, the Steelers have led the NFL in sacks in each of the past four seasons and have ranked in the top three in DVOA in each of the past two.

Here is the latest out on the Pittsburgh staff and other coaching groups around the league:

Although the Steelers are coming off another home playoff defeat, Mike Tomlin does not appear to have moved toward a hot seat. Steelers ownership is not believed to have any desire to move away from Tomlin, per The Athletic’s Ed Bouchette (subscription required). Tomlin had the Steelers at 11-0 this season and managed to have last year’s largely Ben Roethlisberger-less team at 8-8, leading to Coach of the Year consideration in both cases. However, the Steelers lost five of their final six games this year and have lost home playoff games three times since 2014. Tomlin is signed through the 2021 season.
The Giants became the second team in two years to call on Dave DeGuglielmo as a late replacement as an offensive line coach, but the arrangement looks to have been temporary. Like the Dolphins last year, the Giants will not look to retain DeGuglielmo for a second season. They are searching for a new O-line coach, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. DeGuglielmo came to New York on an interim basis to replace Marc Colombo, whom Joe Judge fired this season.
The Panthers will turn to a legacy name to help out their offensive line. Carolina intends to hire Tony Sparano Jr. as assistant O-line coach, according to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports (on Twitter). The son of the late Tony Sparano, Sparano Jr. worked as the Jaguars’ assistant O-line coach for the past four seasons. Despite being 34, the second-generation coach has worked in the NFL since 2011.
Jim Harbaugh will poach one of his brother’s assistants. Ravens linebackers coach Mike MacDonald will become Michigan’s co-defensive coordinator, with Yahoo.com’s Pete Thamel reporting former Cowboys defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist will move to Ann Arbor, Mich., to share in that responsibility (Twitter link). Macdonald, 33, was with the Ravens for seven seasons — the past three as linebackers coach. Linguist has spent much of his career in the college ranks but was on Nolan’s staff in Dallas this season.
Another of Quinn’s Cowboys staffers became known Wednesday. The Cowboys hired Aden Durde as defensive line coach. Durde will follow Quinn from Atlanta, where he was most recently the Falcons’ outside linebackers coach. Durde, who spent time with the Cowboys as part of the Minority Fellowship Program from 2014-15, will join Joe Whitt Jr. in following Quinn from Atlanta to Dallas.
Arthur Smith‘s first Falcons staff will not include offensive line coach Chris Morgan, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer (on Twitter). Morgan worked with the Falcons for six years, initially serving under OC Kyle Shanahan. Given that offensive scheme’s presence in a few NFL cities, Morgan profiles as an interesting coaching free agent.

AFC Notes: Tomlin, Big Ben, Ravens, Texans

December 29th, 2020 at 3:02pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers announced Tuesday that Mason Rudolph will start in Week 17 against the Browns as Ben Roethlisberger rests up for the playoffs, but that isn’t the only quarterback question lingering over the franchise. Big Ben’s play fell off dramatically after the early part of the season, which has understandably led to some questions about the 38-year-old’s future. We heard just last week that Roethlisberger was planning on returning for 2021, the final year of his contract, but it might not be entirely up to him. Interestingly, head coach Mike Tomlin “will play a critical role in however Pittsburgh moves forward” at quarterback, sources told Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

Steelers GM Kevin Colbert has indicated he could be headed for retirement soon, potentially giving Tomlin even more power here. La Canfora writes that the team is putting off these questions to the offseason, but while he cautions the team isn’t talking too much about Roethlisberger’s decline internally, it sounds like a lot of it will come down to what Tomlin wants to do. Obviously Tomlin and Big Ben have a close bond, and there’s no reason to believe he’ll immediately toss him aside, but “he will have a significant voice in the composition of the quarterback room in 2021,” La Canfora writes. Assuming Roethlisberger comes back, that could mean that Tomlin has more of a direct role in acquiring a potential successor. The 25-year-old Rudolph was serviceable at times last year, but also struggled mightily at others. He hasn’t shown much to inspire confidence that he can be a franchise quarterback. It’ll be a very interesting offseason in Pittsburgh.

Here’s more from the AFC:

The Ravens dealt with a brutal COVID-19 outbreak in the middle of their season, and the league has determined they were partially at fault. The NFL has slapped Baltimore with a $250K fine for protocol violations, as Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk writes, although they were not docked a draft pick like the Saints were. New Orleans lost a seventh-rounder, Las Vegas forfeited a sixth-rounder, and the Titans were fined $350K, so this is actually on the lighter side of COVID punishments. In a separate piece, Florio writes that strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders was the previously unnamed coach who was suspended for his role in the outbreak. Saunders is now back in the building with his job back after serving a suspension of about a month.
The Texans have a lot of work to do this offseason, most notably finding a new coach and GM after the firing of Bill O’Brien. Houston owner Cal McNair reportedly wants Deshaun Watson‘s input on who the next coach will be, but the team apparently isn’t in any rush to make a hire. That’s because the Texans do not intend to take advantage of the new NFL rule that would allow them to interview head coaching candidates currently on staff with other teams before the season ends, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports. Instead Houston is sticking to their plan of hiring a GM before a coach. They have however been interviewing candidates not currently with a team, including Marvin Lewis and Jim Caldwell recently. There have been murmurs that Watson would like Eric Bieniemy, who obviously is still currently employed by the Chiefs, so that interview won’t be happening immediately.

Latest On Steelers, Ravens

November 27th, 2020 at 11:52am CST by Zachary Links

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin canceled Friday’s practice, per a club announcement. The Steelers are currently slated to face the Ravens on Sunday afternoon, but they don’t have much confidence in the game actually taking place.

Four Ravens players tested positive for COVID-19 on Thanksgiving, including star quarterback Lamar Jackson. Before that, the Ravens were forced to shelve nose tackle Brandon Williams, defensive end Calais Campbell, and running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins on the reserve list. Other Ravens staffers were also kept away from the facility, leaving the NFL to bump Steelers-Ravens from Thursday night to early Sunday afternoon. All in all, the Ravens have placed ten players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including eight starters.

At this stage, it would be a surprise to see the two teams square off on Sunday. The league may compel the Ravens to forfeit the game, which would declare the Steelers as the winner by a score of 2-0. And, per the terms of the NFL’s agreement with the NFLPA, the teams would not be required to pay its players for a forfeited contest.

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