Terry Bradshaw not a huge fan of Steelers' Mike Tomlin: 'He's a cheerleader guy'

did you watch the Steelers team today? Bradshaw is full of bullshit. his sunday morning job is coming to a quick end and it will be Bradshaw who.

Revisionist history. People forget that Cowher was a "cheerleader" who "choked" in big games until he finally got there after what 14 years? In 10-15 years after Tomlin retires everyone here will be calling him a great coach and tehlling their grandkids how much the current head coach is a cheerleader choke artist for not winning the SB every other year.

You have to hand it to Tomlin for turning a 4 game losing streak into a 6 game win streak-likely to be 7, a division title, and likely 11-5 record.

I was watching Dulac and Bouchette's video at Post Gazette. Bouchette made the point that the Steelers could face the Dolphins 1st round with a back up and possibly the Raiders 2nd round with a back up as well.

effyou515 wrote:

did you watch the Steelers team today? Bradshaw is full of bullshit. his sunday morning job is coming to a quick end and it will be Bradshaw who.

Easy fella.....if AB doesn't stretch across the goal line the narrative would have been that Tomlin failed to reach the playoffs(again) with the HOF QB and 2 great offensive weapons. It would not be the fault of the QB for throwing 2 INT's that cost 10 points, but rather than of Tomlin and his OC for the call that didn't result in a TD.

Marvology brings up a good point. Cowher was just the guy with the jaw, the passionate speeches and getting in your face, but is now regarded as some as a HOF candidate. Tomlin gives the spirited speeches, gets in guys faces and has the cool stare instead of the jutting jaw. Why do some of those that love Cowher so much, seem to dislike Tomlin?? Are they still hanging on to the thought that Whiz or Russ Grimm should have been the hire?

marvology wrote:

Revisionist history.  People forget that Cowher was a "cheerleader" who "choked" in big games until he finally got there after what 14 years?  In 10-15 years after Tomlin retires everyone here will be calling him a great coach and tehlling their grandkids how much the current head coach is a cheerleader choke artist for not winning the SB every other year.

To be fair to Bill, he never had a QB like Ben until the last three years. That said, I agree with you about the revisionism. Honestly, as a Steelers fan I feel fortunate that we've had all three of Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin. They're all different but they all have done well with the team. I don't always agree with Tomlin's decisions, he's sometimes too aggressive for me but I like what he does and honestly one thing I don't think he gets enough credit for is Harrison getting the starter's job, remember before Tomlin got here, Joey Porter was the guy at OLB and Porter was definitely one of Cowher's guys. I love Peezy but he at his peak was nowhere near where Harrison was. It's pretty crazy honestly how Porter is now Harrison's coach. I have no doubt that down the road that James might thrive in a coaching like position should he want it.

I'd guess it was highly unintentional but it seems Bradshaw did serve to motivate the Steelers to rally behind Tomlin. It be kind of ironic if this lights a fire under them all the way to #7 when Bradshaw was instrumental in the first 4.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18352785/pittsburgh-steelers-players-defend-coach-mike-tomlin-terry-bradshaw-comments

LambertWardSteel wrote:

I'd guess it was highly unintentional but it seems Bradshaw did serve to motivate the Steelers to rally behind Tomlin. It be kind of ironic if this lights a fire under them all the way to #7 when Bradshaw was instrumental in the first 4.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18352785/pittsburgh-steelers-players-defend-coach-mike-tomlin-terry-bradshaw-comments

Further evidence that Terry Bradshaw knows more about Tomlin's coaching ability and his impact on the players he coaches, from all the time he spends around the Steelers facility in the past ten seasons. Much more than those players that are coached and play for Tomlin.

T.B. is too old to get the nod to the Pro Bowl, but maybe he has a shot at dethroning Silky Johnson.

Tomlin is a cheerleader and Pete Carroll is a great motivator - both have 1 win and 1 loss in Super Bowl appearances - connect the dots what the difference is

Fox is going to have Bradshaw walk his idiotic comments back on this Sunday's pregame show

So the head coach is just a cheerleader. The OC sucks and has the job only because of his father. And the DC is worthless.

Yet somehow, the Steelers just beat the Ravens to win the North and secure the No. 3 seed. And they did it with 3 rookies on defense, 2 of the best defensive players out, AB and a group of practice squad receivers, and none of Cowher's players other than Ben. I need Terry to explain to me how that happened.

Wallace108 wrote:

So the head coach is just a cheerleader. The OC sucks and has the job only because of his father. And the DC is worthless.

Yet somehow, the Steelers just beat the Ravens to win the North and secure the No. 3 seed. And they did it with 3 rookies on defense, 2 of the best defensive players out, AB and a group of practice squad receivers, and none of Cowher's players other than Ben. I need Terry to explain to me how that happened.

Yeah this win streak we're on, it's phenomenal work by the coaching staff. As you said we have 3 rookies starting on the defensive side of the ball, 2 of our best were out against the Ravens, and our receivers outside of Brown and Rogers are not exactly instilling fear into the rest of the NFL. The fact we won the division, and secured a home game for the playoffs is absolutely awesome given the circumstances we've faced. Tomlin and the coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for it. Tomlin is a good coach, I wouldn't anoint him as being "great" just yet, but he's still got a lot of time left.

Term choke gets thrown around a little too much. However, if there was one game in the Cowher era that was a choke job, it was the 1994-95 AFC Title Game against the Chargers. I can say that was a choke job if anything. He made up for it the following year and went to the title game until Neil O'fucknuts threw the ball to larry Brown on that last drive. And than after that, he lost to Elway and Brady Twice with 2 of those games having the two biggest bone head plays by Kordell Stewart and the asshole who forced the Steelers to re-kick that punt that Troy Brown returned for a TD in 2001.

Give Cowher Big Ben for 15 years and I could comfortably say he wins 2 super bowls for sure, 3 would be likely.

Now, I have been on Tomlin for a long time. Those Philly and Miami losses bite you in the ass and he has those every single year. Those losses cost bye weeks and first seeds. However, if Mike takes this team all the way, his legacy changes and he probably sets himself for life. So, that is what is at stake. It isnt fair to say that but winning Super Bowl's is the barometer. If he wins another Super Bowl, he will more than likely have a 30 year career in Pittsburgh barring some freak 6 year gap of not playing in the playoffs.

I like to compare Tomlin to Noll. Noll always got the most out of his players. Tomlin sometimes does, sometimes doesn't (Philly and Miami, a number of games last year). But he did get the team to go on a 6 game winning streak which i didn't think he would do after the Miami loss, so i'll give him credit for that. While he doesn't have the discipline or consistency of Noll, I don't quite agree with Bradshaw that he's just a cheerleader. The team has cut down on penalties and the D has stepped up during this streak; the players are listening and playing hard, and with a patchwork D-line; gotta give Tomlin props for leadership - not cheerleading. I think Noll would approve.

marvology wrote:

Revisionist history.  People forget that Cowher was a "cheerleader" who "choked" in big games until he finally got there after what 14 years?  In 10-15 years after Tomlin retires everyone here will be calling him a great coach and tehlling their grandkids how much the current head coach is a cheerleader choke artist for not winning the SB every other year.

One correction, Cowher got to the SB in 1995 when we lost to the cowboys. In the 2nd half we started running the ball over them, then they decided to get pass happy where O'Donnell threw 2 INTs to a flat footed Brown.

Both Cowher and Tomlin are 1-1 in SB appearances.

Bradshaw is paid to create conversation and controversy. Are we really surprised with why he would pick a team like the Ravens who have been more consistent offensively, as of late, over a Steelers team that at times has played below their abilities?

He will always be the "Blonde Bomber", but regarding any picks against the Steelers he makes, just take it with a grain of salt. He gets paid by FOX, not Rooney.

stlrtruck wrote:

Bradshaw is paid to create conversation and controversy.  Are we really surprised with why he would pick a team like the Ravens who have been more consistent offensively, as of late, over a Steelers team that at times has played below their abilities?

He will always be the "Blonde Bomber", but regarding any picks against the Steelers he makes, just take it with a grain of salt.  He gets paid by FOX, not Rooney.

Bradshaw has long term issues with the Steelers organization and the fan base (he was booed regularly in the pre-Super Bowl years and has with some justification continued to be ticked off about a cheer going up at Three Rivers when he left a game against the Bengals in 1973 holding on to his clearly injured shoulder)

Bottom line is I root for these guys because they play for the Steelers, not because of what they do or say off the field (e.g. - I think Bradshaw will say anything to draw attention to himself but at least he has never been accused of sexual assault)

this is finally Tomlins team its taken time to rebuild but its getting better every year I wish the Steelers didn't start out slow every year.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

A coach cannot make plays for the guys on the field.  You guys that want to see more of the Steelers "going deep in the playoffs"  should really consider the talent on these teams before passing judgement on the head coach, who never played a snap for the Steelers the past 10 years.

Last year the Steelers were arguably one turnover away from defeating the Broncos on the road and going to the AFCCG, without Antonio Brown, LeVeon Bell and a secondary that started Will Allen and Antowan Blake.

When Smith, Hampton, Keisel got old and retired the Steelers were replacing with Hood, McLendon, Al Woods and finally Heyward.

When Harrison, Woodley, Farrior, Foote moved on, the drafts were Worilds, Jarvis Jones, Sean Spence and the often injured Shazier.

Secondary that used to feature Polamalu, Ike, Ryan Clark and Townsend, was to be replaced with the likes of Cortez Allen, Shamarko Thomas, Shaquille Richardson, Will Allen.  I wont even goto the offense, but the facts are that Tomlin hasn't had the talent that Noll had, nor the defenses and physical O line that Cowher had.....he has had Ben as the most important player of his tenure for sure.

I'm sure I can dig up some quotes from those that have been around Tomlin as a coach that will dispel the opinion that he is just a cheerleader.  John Lynch, Polamalu, Brad Childress, Ronde Barber,etc.

IMO, Tomlin is a really good coach.  He is in the similar era and tenure and success of Harbaugh at Baltimore, but I think you can arguably say that Harbaugh has had better defenses over the past decade than the Steelers.  Defense wins championships.  Defense travels on the road.  Defense wins games late in the season, in bad weather.  For the most part, Tomlin teams have ended up with less talented defensive teams than Cowher and Noll, which makes the team operate like a 3 legged stool with one leg broken.  

You make great points but is the head coach not involved in the draft process? Isn't being able to draft well part of being a really good coach. They have scouts and a GM but doesn't Tomlin have a say? My argument would be all the games against inferior teams like the old Raiders, Browns and teams with losing records that we could not beat when we needed to. Poor play is one thing but if you have players who think all they have to do is show up to beat teams like this IMO it is the head coaches job to change that mentality. That's my knock on Tomlin. That and 2 point conversions at the wrong time.

You gotta love Tomlin's comment on this

Mike Tomlin wrote:

"Terms like cheerleader guy, to me, maybe fall outside of bounds of critique or criticism," Tomlin said during a news conference Tuesday. "They probably fall more toward the area of disrespect and unprofessional. But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan. Particularly a [Thomas] 'Hollywood' Henderson fan."

In 1979, Henderson famously said about Bradshaw at the height of the Steelers-Cowboys rivalry: "He couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the C and the A."

David DeCastro wrote:

These comments rankled Steelers players, with guard David DeCastro telling ESPN that "hopefully it will fire us up the rest of the way" and teammates "weren't happy about it."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18358611/pittsburgh-steelers-coach-mike-tomlin-responds-terry-bradshaw-comments

solardave wrote:

You make great points but is the head coach not involved in the draft process? Isn't being able to draft well part of being a really good coach. They have scouts and a GM but doesn't Tomlin have a say? My argument would be all the games against inferior teams like the old Raiders, Browns and teams with losing records that we could not beat when we needed to. Poor play is one thing but if you have players who think all they have to do is show up to beat teams like this IMO it is the head coaches job to change that mentality. That's my knock on Tomlin. That and 2 point conversions at the wrong time.  

When is the College football season?? I know there is spring practice, but do they start up in July or August and then the season runs in the fall?

How much time do you really think a head football coach of an NFL team has to evaluate potential talent of NCAA players from July to January, or do you think he is too busy preparing the NFL team he coaches to win games from OTA's to January??

I believe NFL head coaches rely heavily on team scouting department and scouts to inform them of talent. I think the GM likely has more daily or weekly communication with scouts and time to go see players play on Saturday. I think an NFL head coach has to rely on advice from Scouting, much in the way I have to rely on my Investment Advisor to give me info on where to invest for retirement, because I am too busy working at my job and living my life to know what he knows about investments.

I think an NFL Head coach is tasked with Coaching a lot more than talent evaluation and therefore probably doesn't have the appropriate knowledge to be prominent in the War Room on draft day as many fans might think. Maybe that is why Cowher wanted Shaun Andrews and the GM, Scouts and Owners selected Ben Roethilsberger in the draft.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

You gotta love Tomlin's comment on this

Mike Tomlin wrote:

"Terms like cheerleader guy, to me, maybe fall outside of bounds of critique or criticism," Tomlin said during a news conference Tuesday. "They probably fall more toward the area of disrespect and unprofessional. But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan. Particularly a [Thomas] 'Hollywood' Henderson fan."

In 1979, Henderson famously said about Bradshaw at the height of the Steelers-Cowboys rivalry: "He couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the C and the A."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18358611/pittsburgh-steelers-coach-mike-tomlin-responds-terry-bradshaw-comments

BOOM! That is how you respond without getting into a war of words with an idiot!! Tomlin just disrespected
Bradshaw by saying he was a Hollywood Henderson fan.

Henderson was throwing cheap insults at Bradshaw with the C-A-T comment, just like Bradshaw is throwing cheap insults by using the label "Cheerleader" to a guy with 5 Division Championships, 7 seasons of 10+ wins and a Super Bowl ring in 2 appearances in 10 seasons as a Head Coach.

Quote :

It would not be the fault of the QB for throwing 2 INT's that cost 10 points,

Ben was destroyed on Twitter for those picks.  Rape comments, weight comments, called his wife a whore, etc.

Not one mention of Villanueva getting pushed into him, or worthless Johnson and Nix running pass patterns on pick #1.  Or the useless Chris Hubbard formation with James, Johnson, and Rogers running another cute fake end around with AB OFF the field on pick #2.  

The unqualified dope and his cute little tricks cost them 10 points.  Since 2009 AFTER Christmas Haley's system is 4-9 vs. the Ravens and has scored 20 points or less on offense in 10 of the 13 meetings.    

Then when they NEEDED points in 15 minutes, the tricks stopped, Hubbard, Nix, and Johnson (minus 1 play) went to the bench where they belong, and the TALENT with Ben and his WR's on 29 of their final 30 snaps in the no huddle won the game.  

#CRASHFormation  

You're welcome.

11 points off to's.

stlrtruck wrote:

marvology wrote:

Revisionist history.  People forget that Cowher was a "cheerleader" who "choked" in big games until he finally got there after what 14 years?  In 10-15 years after Tomlin retires everyone here will be calling him a great coach and tehlling their grandkids how much the current head coach is a cheerleader choke artist for not winning the SB every other year.

One correction, Cowher got to the SB in 1995 when we lost to the cowboys. In the 2nd half we started running the ball over them, then they decided to get pass happy where O'Donnell threw 2 INTs to a flat footed Brown.

That's not accurate.

so i see crash is back...great

Tomlin should have walked in there today with a cat and went: C-A-T.

Then started the press conference.