Steelers Now
CBS Sports insider Aditi Kinkhabwala reveals several Pittsburgh Steelers players may have lost their respect for head coach Mike Tomlin.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of their longest postseason win drought in franchise history. But the man at the forefront — head coach Mike Tomlin — still seems unscathed.
CBS Sports insider Aditi Kinkhabwala reveals that may not necessarily be the case, at least in the locker room.
“I’ll just say this without violating anybody’s trust. There are many, many former players that I have spoken to that have bitten their tongues about their experience with Mike,” Kinkhabwala said on Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan. “There’s a huge disconnect, right? Because the national media is in love with Mike Tomlin and the national media never brings up the playoff drought.”
The news may come as a bit of a surprise since many players have praised Tomlin’s resume and coaching style for many years. In fact, a lot of free agents have tabbed Tomlin as the main reason they signed with the Steelers.
That continued this offseason when quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed during his introductory press conference that Tomlin was the driving force as to why he decided to sign with Pittsburgh.
“I think it starts with Mike Tomlin,” Rodgers said. “I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. There’s a few iconic franchises in the NFL. I played for one of them for 18 years. This is another one of those. There’s something special about — obviously this area, so many great quarterbacks are from Pittsburgh.”
However, it seems that narrative may be starting to change, at least according to Kinkhabwala.
Tomlin’s NFL record of consecutive non-losing seasons to begin a coaching career (18) is impressive. But the Steelers have now lost six straight playoff games and haven’t won in the postseason since the 2016 season.
He must change that soon or his seat may finally start to get a little hot.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Insider Shares Shocking Report About Steelers HC Mike Tomlin: ‘Many Players Have Bitten Their Tongues’
