Mike Tomlin has been an NFL head coach for nearly 18 years. The Coach of the Year candidate has never seen a losing season with his Pittsburgh Steelers, who are almost always relevant as perennial playoff contenders. Anyone who follows the NFL regularly is unsurprised by Tomlin’s success. He is effectively a made man in Pittsburgh — for as long as he wants — because of how well he manages his team.
But Tomlin’s “tough love” player-centered style of coaching, in which he gets the pulse of everyone on his roster, can sometimes be hard to quantify if you’re not personally hanging around the Steelers’ locker room.
This is where programs like Hard Knocks, fortunately, come in.
With the NFL documentary series centering its latest in-season edition on the AFC North, we got a firsthand look at Tomlin’s in-game work during the Steelers’ win over the rival Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday.
And let me tell you, with just two sample clips to work off of, it’s clear Tomlin put on a coaching masterclass. What else is new?
The first video shows Tomlin planting a seed in Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig’s head. In the lead-up to the game with the Bengals, Tomlin wanted Herbig to think about beating Cincinnati left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. like a drum with a speed move. He kept talking about it.
With the Steelers needing a big defensive play to permanently tilt the matchup in their favor in the fourth quarter, Herbig came through — just like Tomlin encouraged him to.
Preparation. And Mike Tomlin calls Nick Herbig’s strip sack vs Bengals. Beautiful. #Steelers #HardKnocks pic.twitter.com/6XpudRzRh0
— David Todd (@DavidMTodd) December 4, 2024
It’s a small thing after the fact, but please note how Tomlin ensures he tells Herbig that he’s not shocked he made an impact play. That’s cultivating a small but not insignificant dynamic between coach and player where the player understands their coach has a strong belief in their abilities, no matter the situation. Not everyone can pull that kind of move off as a leader and come across as sincere.
Tomlin is, of course, not like everyone.
The other Hard Knocks clip showcases Tomlin’s relationship with the fiery George Pickens, who, in charitable terms, has been known to wear his heart on his sleeve. But Tomlin, likely better than anyone, knows how to keep people’s emotions in check.
After the Bengals notched an early pick-six off Russell Wilson in the first quarter — thanks to Pickens falling down, which let Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt catch the ball unimpeded en route to the end zone — Tomlin wouldn’t let Pickens sulk over his unforced error.
Mistakes like that happen all the time in a chaotic game like football. As Tomlin tells Pickens while holding him close, you have to fight for another day even when you screw up. Tomlin’s message appeared to resonate when Pickens responded with a touchdown of his own on the Steelers’ next possession:
.@CoachTomlin encouraging George Pickens after the pick-6 is why he's one of the great motivators in this league 💯#HardKnocks In Season with the AFC North available now on @streamonmax pic.twitter.com/9SFBaLvmgs
— NFL (@NFL) December 4, 2024
It’s not every day you get to see a player’s coach like Tomlin thriving in their environment while wearing a mic. Thanks to Hard Knocks and NFL Films, we now have an even keener sense of why the Steelers coach will one day stroll into Canton. That’s because Tomlin’s work with Pickens and Herbig here was undoubtedly only scratching the surface of his coaching and mentorship.
And by the time Tomlin is up for a gold jacket and bronze bust, knowing his track record, he’ll likely be able to point to at least 30 consecutive winning seasons with the black and gold.
