Mike Tomlin had great success with James Harrison as the leader of his defense with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, during an interview on the Nightcap podcast, the team legend revealed what he believes is a flaw in the head coach’s leadership.
“Especially like, towards the end of my career, the biggest thing was, you know, you ask a tough question, you get a tough answer. Well, I was asking tough questions and I wasn’t getting the answer. I was getting told things that weren’t the answer. If you want me here as a security blanket, say that. I’ll sit back and do whatever it is. Ask a tough question, get a tough answer. That didn’t come true for me.”
Harrison was a key piece in helping the Steelers win the Super Bowl during the 2008 season alongside Ben Roethlisberger. The big issue is that, over the years, Tomlin was heavily criticized for wasting the talent of those stars and other names like Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown after that championship ring.
Will Mike Tomlin be fired by Steelers?
Mike Tomlin will not be fired by the Pittsburgh Steelers as he is under contract through the 2027 season. Despite that fact, in recent weeks several of his former players, such as Ryan Clark and James Harrison, have criticized Tomlin or hinted that things weren’t working well inside that locker room.
In Harrison’s case, one of the major criticisms he made of Tomlin was his special treatment toward certain players, which, over time, stirred up a lot of controversy inside the building.
“With Mike Tomlin, the biggest thing I guess that I liked about him is that he’s a players’ coach and the thing that I disliked about him is he’s a players’ coach to a point of sometimes it can disrupt. You know what I’m saying? Because it goes maybe a little too far with allowing certain things with certain players. Then, it becomes an issue with that player.”