Faneca at the 2005 Pro Bowl
Accepts that Faneca preferred Grimm
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The first discouraging words from within since the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin as head coach came from 4,657 miles away, from guard Alan Faneca, a team co-captain playing in his sixth Pro Bowl in Honolulu.
The new coach tackled this initial public difference of in-house opinion yesterday by saying he was not really surprised.
"Yeah, I did see what he said and, no, I'm not concerned about it whatsoever," Tomlin said.
"Transition's never easy, particularly at a place like this that has had great stability. Some organizations get quite used to change; this is not one of them, thankfully. So you don't expect it to be easy or comfortable for everyone, but not concerned about that at all."
Faneca, a nine-year starter, displayed disappointment over the weekend that neither of the two candidates on the staff, Russ Grimm or Ken Whisenhunt, were hired to replace Bill Cowher when he resigned. Faneca has not yet met with Tomlin, who has talked individually with more than half of the players on the roster.
"I wanted Russ to get the job," Faneca said from Honolulu, where the Pro Bowl was played Saturday night. "It's a guy we know, and a guy I'm experienced with. I hoped Russ would get that opportunity, but it didn't work out.
"When Cowher retired, everybody in the league wanted two of our guys, so you'd think we would want at least one of them."
Tomlin said once the players get to know him, those questions will "quickly be laid to bed" and that he does not rule by intimidation.
"Some people motivate through fear. To me, fear is not a good long-term motivator. I think you motivate true professionals through teaching, so that's my approach. Charismatic leadership or motivation, fear motivation, or teaching; I tend to focus on teaching.
"I'm not here to entertain them, or try to win them over immediately with glitz and glamour. That's short-lived. I'm going to be myself. We're going to get started about the business of putting together a great football team. That's just rolling your sleeves up and going to work on a day-to-day basis."
Tomlin answered questions for 30 minutes from nine newspaper reporters who cover the team yesterday, his first group interview since his initial news conference Jan. 22, the day after he was hired.
Among other more notable topics discussed by Tomlin yesterday:
* While he talked to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger more than any other player so far, the topic of his riding a motorcycle with or without a helmet was not broached.
"There'll be very few boundaries with me, not only with him but with any of the men in terms of things like that, because I'd ask him to do the same thing with me one-on-one. I have no problem having those kinds of discussions, not only with Ben but with anybody."
Tomlin said he would expect a starting quarterback, no matter who he is, "to play winning football, to manage the game, to do the detail things that are required to keep the chains moving and to ring up the scoreboard."
* After watching Willie Parker on tape, Tomlin's opinion of the starting halfback changed.
"I think initially coming in, I had a perception of him as a perimeter runner. But it was obvious the more tape I watched that he's capable of hurting you in a variety of ways. I'm developing a great deal of respect for what he's capable of doing as a ballcarrier in all facets of the game."
* Still, he still believes the Steelers need to find a second back to complement Parker, and that back could be on their roster.
"We have potential men identified. ... I think just having the ability to be multiple, having the ability to attack defenses in different ways. If you look at New Orleans, Deuce McAllister is a power man, Reggie Bush is speed. If you look at New England, Corey Dillon is power, the rookie Laurence Maroney is speed.
"You have to have the ability to have a change of pace offense, to attack people in different ways. Central, from a perimeter standpoint, having the ability to play both in the game at the same time and go two-back or one-back. It just gives the defense more things to work on. I think it's just part of today's NFL."
* He has viewed plenty of tape since his arrival and formed opinions, but would not offer any on what went wrong last season for the defending Super Bowl champs.
"I'm not looking back to pass judgment on what happened here, nor do I care what happened here. My focus is the '07 Steelers, not the '06 Steelers."
* The Steelers are unlikely to draft certain styles of players based on whether they continue to run the 3-4 defense or move toward a 4-3.
"The elite players defy scheme," Tomlin said. "Troy Polamalu's going to be an excellent safety, regardless of what defensive scheme he's in. Casey Hampton's going to be a dominant interior defensive lineman, regardless of what scheme he's in. So the elite players defy scheme. We're not going to get enamored with that. What we're going to do is we're going to continue to shape our package to do what our players do and do well. It'll be a constant evolution, just like the players are constantly evolving."
* He's all for using starters on special teams, something Cowher tried to avoid.
"I have an all-hands-on-deck mentality. And you guys will find it's not going to be lip service. It's a legitimate phase of the game."
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(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com. )
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