Whats the first advice youd give to new Steelers coach Mike Tomlin?
I’d give him no advice, except, “Be yourself.” I learned a long time ago, winning coaches vary a great deal in their approach and methods. Bill Cowher was a motivator. Chuck Noll would have nothing to do with motivation. Noll said all the time he wanted self-starters, and if you had to motivate a guy, he shouldn’t be there. Tomlin, obviously, is a guy that just blew away the Rooneys. All of sudden, he jumped over the other candidates. They’re pretty good judges, I would think, the Rooneys are. Tomlin, obviously, brings something with him, but you never know what a coach will do, whether he’ll win or lose. That’s impossible to predict with a guy who’s never been a head coach. Q: What’s your take on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s rocky season? A: There’s the theory he was brought back too soon. There’s a theory that the (motorcycle) accident and the appendectomy were what ruined his season. But in my view, the thing that ruined the season was that the offensive line – not each
