Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin watches practice during minicamp.
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The jury is still out.
On Alan Faneca, on the Australian punter and especially on Mike Tomlin.
The first-year NFL head coach was greeted at the start of his first mandatory mini camp in charge of the Steelers by a salvo of criticism of the organization from perhaps his best player. Confirmation that Faneca, an All-Pro guard, is counting the days to unrestricted free agency reached Tomlin in the wake of reports that Richard Seigler, until very recently a Steelers linebacker, had been arrested for allegedly running a prostitution ring.
That, admittedly, was a development Tomlin didn't see coming.
But the contract hassle?
Been there, done that.
"Not to make light of the situation, but it's all a re-run," Tomlin said late Friday afternoon.
To prove his point, and perhaps to continue emphasizing that he hasn't come out of nowhere to coach the Steelers, Tomlin recalled his days in Tampa Bay.
"I coached a couple cornerbacks that thought they were underpaid," Tomlin said. "They probably were.
"Warren Sapp went into a similar situation after we won the Super Bowl and went into free agency and probably didn't want to. It's the nature of today's NFL. We're in the process of dealing with it."
Tomlin walked the walk as well as talked the talk in "dealing with it."
He answered the questions that were inevitable. He didn't scowl or make faces while doing so. He didn't throw a tantrum and issue any "I'm only going to address this once" caveats.
The word that came to mind was "professionalism."
Tomlin gives off a similar vibe on the practice field, bouncing from position to position and interacting with players and assistant coaches, even during one of the seemingly endless special teams periods that have characterized his first mandatory mini camp.
The Steelers didn't get around to punting in one of those until Saturday morning. And when they finally did they insisted upon having the return men catch the ball (where was that a year ago?). So the punter they traded up to get, Daniel Sepulveda, has had little opportunity to impress with the "Aussie style" that's supposed to induce bounce backs rather than touchbacks.
It mattered little, for Faneca had given Tomin and the Steelers more to deal with by then by taking a pass on Saturday morning's practice.
After meeting with Tomlin at lunchtime, Faneca hit the field again yesterday afternoon.
Tomlin was asked if Faneca might be testing him.
"Every time I get out of my car in that parking lot, it's a test," Tomlin said. "It's one that I readily accept."
The players, seemingly, are warming to Tomlin's style (Faneca excluded). But even the players don't yet know how Tomlin will run a sideline, whether he'll give his coordinators leeway or interference in calling a game, whether he'll be bold or conservative in his decision-making, whether he'll panic or persevere.
Time will tell.
Until then, the question of the day every day in western Pennsylvania -- "What's the new coach like?" -- will remain unanswered.
Tomlin has embraced the role this weekend, but as he said of his players, "I try to temper my enthusiasm when it comes to football in shorts."
The same applies to coaching it.
Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com or 412-320-7923.
No comments:
Post a Comment