Dec 30, 2016 4 min read

Is Mike Tomlin a great coach?

Quite a stir was created around the football world, especially in Pittsburgh, when Terry Bradshaw was asked that question on a panel show called “Speak For Yourself” on FS1.

And, before we go on, let’s remember that he was asked a question, and let’s also keep in mind that the topic for the segment, which appeared on the screen as a graphic, was “Does Mike Tomlin still have to prove that he’s a great coach?”

These little details are known in some circles as “context.”

During the uproar, as is often the case, a listener/reader might have thought that Bradshaw just blurted it out without provocation or maybe wrote it in an Op-Ed in the New York Times.

He was a participant in a panel discussion and was asked to give his take on a topic. Jason Whitlock said, “Terry, I think Mike Tomlin has to prove that he’s a great coach.”

Here is exactly what Bradshaw said: “I don’t think he’s a great coach … at all. He’s a nice coach and I’ve said this: he’s really a great cheerleader guy. I don’t know what he does. I don’t think he’s a great coach at all. His name never pops into my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL.”

The cheerleader comment is what got a lot people – mostly in the local media – all riled up. In print, the comment looks dismissive and demeaning. On video it doesn’t come across that way at all.

Remember, he was weighing in on a segment topic that was chosen by a producer, who obviously thinks that Tomlin does still have to prove that he’s a great coach.

Panelist Cris Carter then asked Bradshaw if he thought Bill Cowher was a great coach. Bradshaw said, “I have more identity with Cowher than I do with Tomlin. I know Cowher. When he came over from Kansas City as a defensive coordinator and his teams were tough. Tomlin came in from Minnesota and I didn’t know anything about him, so maybe it’s unfair to make the comparison.”

Bradshaw obviously hasn’t studied Tomlin’s coaching style or contribution to the Steelers. Why would a coach whose team has won one playoff game in five years be on anybody’s mind as a great coach?

He said, “He’s a nice coach. … I don’t know what he does.”

Why would any analyst be all that interested in what a coach, who’s won one playoff game in five years, does?

By “cheerleader guy” Bradshaw was saying that, as far as he could tell, Tomlin was a good motivator. And “I don’t know what he does” meant that there was nothing that, in his mind, Tomlin did to set himself apart and make him – all together now – great.

Whitlock got specific. After saying Tomlin coaches in “the best organization in professional sports” and has been supported by excellent coordinators and coaches, he said, “The guy mismanages the clock. I think he gets overaggressive a lot of times and plays from his gut when it’s not strategically sound and it bites him in the rear, and that’s why he’s only won one playoff game in five years.”

Give Tomlin credit for coming up with a great answer when asked about it at his Tuesday press conference. He agreed that he has a way to go before being called great and “Terms like ‘cheerleader guy’ to me maybe fall outside the bounds of critique or criticism. They fall more into the area of disrespect and unprofessional. But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan, particularly a Hollywood Henderson fan.”

Henderson, in case you’ve forgotten, is the former Cowboys linebacker who said Bradshaw was so dumb he couldn’t spell cat if you spotted him the “c” and the “a.”

Tomlin got the last word.

Kind of the way Bradshaw did with Henderson.

Twice.

John Steigerwald writes a weekly sports column for the Observer-Reporter.