Tomlin's First Team Meeting: Coach made his expectations quite clear

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin talks after being introduced as the team's new coach Jan. 22. Tomlin began the Steelers' offseason workout program without fanfare.


Tuesday, March 20, 2007

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Coach Mike Tomlin had his first meeting with his new team yesterday as the Steelers began their offseason workout program with little fanfare at their South Side training facility.

So little, in fact, that Tomlin declined interview requests. A Steelers spokesman explained that Tomlin did not want to make a bigger deal out of his first meeting with his team than what it was by speaking publicly.

He saved that for his players.

"He laid down the law," wide receiver Cedrick Wilson said.

Wilson was the only player available to the media after Tomlin spoke with the players and they went through workouts. He said 85 percent of the roster attended and that more players were traveling to Pittsburgh to begin training, something Tomlin strongly urged them to do.

Cedrick Wilson celebrates after scoring his first touchdown as a Steeler. Wilson caught a 43-yard pass on a third quarter gadget play that started with a direct snap to Antwaan Randle El, a lateral to Ben Roethlisberger and a bomb to the wide open receiver (1/8/06).


Wilson said Tomlin told them that "you can go train in Orlando or you can go train in Arizona where it's a nice climate, whatever, but you can't get out of those places what you can get here and that's football."

"And that's what he's preaching," Wilson said, "and that's what he's coaching. A guy like myself, I'm definitely taking heed of it.

"He stepped in and kind of laid down the law a little bit, like, 'Hey guys it's going to be a little bit uncomfortable but as soon as we can get over that it's going to be better for all of us.' The guys worked hard today, on the field and also in the weight room, and I look for the same thing tomorrow."

Each player has to prove himself to the Steelers' new coach, Wilson said.

"Oh yeah. I think everybody does. He doesn't know anyone. He just came from Minnesota. ... I think everyone has to prove themselves."

Wilson said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger also had some things to say yesterday, at least to the wide receivers. Roethlisberger has been working out at the Steelers' facility off and on for several weeks.

"He made it clear, he is here right now. That's a statement itself," Wilson said. "It's March 19. We have five or six months before the season begins. He is here and we are here and we will get into the feel of throwing the ball and catching and things of that nature later on as guys gradually get used to the new strength coach and his way of doing things.

"I think the goal is for the receivers and the quarterback to work a ton. Our third-down efficiency was pretty good last year, but it wasn't as good as it was the year we won the Super Bowl. That's where we're going to have to get it up. If you want to win a championship you have to be darn good on third down. This time right now we can lay a platform for the upcoming season."

Alan Faneca

It won't be known until later what kind of impression Tomlin has made on his players or if some of the discontent expressed by them over his hiring and the release of linebacker Joey Porter has subsided.

Two offensive co-captains, guard Alan Faneca and wide receiver Hines Ward, have been outspoken about each. Faneca, among those who did not make it to the team's facility yet, complained when the Steelers bypassed offensive line coach Russ Grimm and hired Tomlin to replace Bill Cowher. Ward, who attended yesterday, still was protesting the release of Porter, who subsequently signed with the Miami Dolphins.

"It's shocking that they let him go," Ward told Michael Silver of SI.com last week, "because he was really the emotional leader, the guy who brought out the best in a lot of players. That's why so many veterans -- Alan Faneca, James Farrior and others -- called me when they heard he was released. We were all shocked.

Hines Ward

"You can always replace players, but you can't always replace leaders. That's what we lose more than anything. It was tough when we lost Jerome [Bettis] before last year, and then we lost coach Cowher. Now we lose Joey Porter? It's going to be different."

A request through the team to talk to Ward yesterday, a day after Porter was charged with misdemeanor battery in Las Vegas for allegedly punching Bengals tackle Levi Jones in the face, was not fulfilled.

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com. )