If We've Learned Anything, Tomlin's Words Don't Mean Much

Its Time For The Steelers Actions To Match Coach
Tomlin's Words...

As I sit here and watch the Mike Tomlin weekly Press Conference, you hear to cliches that get tossed around on a weekly basis.  "The Standard is the Standard", "Position Flexibility", and "We don't live in our fears..." just to name a few.  However, words this week that were thrown around were a little more dire..."Huge Week", "Enormous", "Playoff atmosphere"....all were used during the press conference and would make the listeners / media shake their heads and say "Man, this guy has a true feel for what this team needs to do to get this team to win..."  However, what I'm writing about in this article is that SteelerNation should take Tomlin's words with a grain of salt.

Let me continue this by saying that I am NOT a Mike Tomlin hater.  I love the guy as the Steelers coach, but at the same time, I can see when someone is blowing smoke (if you know what I mean).  All you have to do is go back to 2009 when Tomlin declared that the Steelers were going to "unleash hell in the month of December".  That team collapsed and missed the playoffs by one game.  Not quite unleashing hell.  I thought that at the time, Tomlin was saying exactly what he needed to go get this team motivated.  Obviously, it didn't quite work out that way.

Its because of this (and plenty other examples of when Tomlin was quoted by saying one thing, and the team performing another), that has me realize that Steelers fans can't put too much stock into the coach's words.  I think that this comes down more to the fact that these players are adult professionals and not High School players, and less about the quality of a coach Tomlin has become.  Some would read this and other articles and think that Mike Tomlin is a below average coach in the NFL.  I look at it and say that those people have never coached anything other than a little league team before.  Even at the Varsity level in HS sports, the coach's words only mean so much.  The coach could give the best "Rah Rah, Coach 'Em Up" speech since Jim Valvano's '93 ESPY speech and the team has to respond.  The Coach could yell and scream at the players, but if the players don't go out and perform...then all is for naught. 

Tomlin said all the right things in his press conference yesterday.  Talking about how things need to be tweaked defensively, about the mistakes that the Steelers cannot afford to make, and how Ben Roethlisberger is "on board" with what the team is trying to do on offense.  All of that speaks wonders to SteelerNation, but if the players don't go out and simply play better than they have...then his words are just words.  Words need to translate to action and they need to yield results before I start to believe.  Lets hope the Steelers make Mike Tomlin's words come to fruition on Sunday.