When the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the dreaded long offseason, there are plenty of ideas to debate. As part of the triumphant trio on the Steelers Preview podcast, I’ve been known to often give a “Dave answer“ to various things as I often like to argue both sides of an issue. With this in mind, a new weekly segment has been born… Unpopular opinion.

There are plenty of arguments both for and against the Pittsburgh Steelers that might not go along with the majority of fans. Oftentimes I believe in these arguments, while other times I simply like to pose a counter argument for ones that are taking it too much to the extreme. For this reason, I’m going to offer some points about the Pittsburgh Steelers that go against the general fan narrative, or at least how I have heard things.

Next up is something many fans don’t want to hear about their head coach…

Mike Tomlin is not a micromanager

Steelers fans are frustrated with the way the 2024 season ended. There is nothing wrong with that. But often times fans try to spin a narrative that they really don’t have the inside knowledge about yet want to say it’s the problem. A very popular narrative floating around now is how Mike Tomlin, as the Steelers head coach, is a micromanager and is running every little detail about the team.

Honestly, I just don’t see it.

I’m not saying that Mike Tomlin isn’t highly involved in everything. He is. He should be. That’s what it is to be a head coach. If fans don’t want Mike Tomlin involved in what’s going on with the offense, the defensive line, the wide receivers, the kickers, the offensive line, the quarterbacks… (I could go on and on) what you are really saying is you don’t want a head coach. This is what a head coach does. This is their responsibility. They’re supposed to oversee everything.

To be a micromanager, Mike Tomlin would have to be involved with every drill throughout practice overseeing every little detail. Usually he’s around for the big ones such as a “back on backers,” but he’s not going to be in each individual meeting and in every drill for every position group. He simply can’t pull it off.

To micromanage something means to not let anyone who is underneath you do anything on their own without being dictated exactly what to do. Evaluations of every task and every conclusion drawn would be done by one person who is not allowing others to do anything. Personally, I don’t think it would even be possible for Mike Tomlin to do that with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now, could coach Tomlin be too involved in certain aspects? Certainly. An argument could be made for many things. Is he too involved with the offensive philosophy? Maybe he shouldn’t be because that is not his expertise. Is he too involved with what is going on with the defense? Perhaps he feels he has to be.

The bottom line is Coach Tomlin is not in both the offensive and defensive huddles during team period. Could he be in different huddles at various differing times throughout practice? Most certainly. But it’s not like Coach Tomlin is going over and calling the offensive play and then running across the field to call the defensive play. With all the fans that are training camp, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that he does that every play.

Am I potentially taking the micromanage title to the extreme? Not if you’re going by what a true micromanager does. So is it really that Tomlin is micromanaging? Or is he just doing what a head coach does and has his fingerprints on everything that is the Pittsburgh Steelers? He is, as he should. But there also is the possibility that he is too involved in certain areas as well. It’s a case where both of these things can be true.

When Steelers fans talk about the defense and say how Teryl Austin is just a “puppet“ and it’s really Mike Tomlin‘s defense, you’re taking how things work in the NFL and talking about it as a bad thing. Using the term “puppet“ isn’t accurate as there are distinct things the coordinator must do, but I think it would be hard to find a single NFL head coach who doesn’t have their fingerprints all over the side of the ball that is their specialty. Is it Matt Nagy’s offense in Kansas City or is it Andy Reid’s? Was it Joe Whitt’s defense in Washington or Dan Quinn‘s? To think that the head coach doesn’t have a huge say in these things is foolish, so to criticize it to an high degree actually makes one look a fool.

Mike Tomlin isn’t a micromanager. I don’t think it’s possible. In fact, Coach Tomlin could use some more staff in order to make him not have to manage so much. His fingerprints are on the entire team because that’s what head coaches actually do. To think that a head coach doesn’t oversee all of the team and doesn’t have a say everywhere is to be delusional about what a head coach is supposed to do. It’s actually what he is required to do. But because his responsibility covers the entire team, the argument of whether or not he is doing an adequate job in every area, not the fact that his hand is in everything, is really what should be evaluated.