Well, it appears that Norm Chow is indeed out of the running for head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Being interviewed might have helped his chances. But, I digress. Aside from losing twenty bucks, I am pleasantly delighted with the hiring of Mike Tomlin as Pittsburgh's new head coach.
First of all, I will not drone on about The Rooney Rule. Nor will I mention how "The Steelers change their head coaches about as often as Ravens fans change their underwear: every fifteen years." And, I will absolutely, positively not discuss the strange events which occurred on the Saturday before the hire. Instead, I will actually talk about something truly important: Mike Tomlin.
But first, allow me to take you back in time.
Nearly thirty years ago, Tony Dungy played safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII. And, it was no surprise to anyone that once Tony ventured into coaching, Chuck Noll immediately hired him as the secondary coach for the Steelers. Before anyone could blink, Dungy became the defensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, and eventually, Tony became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Following in Noll's footsteps, Dungy's Tampa Bay teams were defensively sound. And, like Noll, Dungy hired on a young, enthusiastic man to coach Tampa Bay's secondary. That young man was Mike Tomlin. Despite the fact that the next season Dungy left Tampa, Tomlin learned the ins and outs of the Cover-2 defense (which Dungy had established in Tampa).
Speaking of learning, Dungy learned defense from Noll, and Mike Tomlin learned defense from Dungy. Ergo, using the transitive property (if a=b and b=c, then a=c), Mike Tomlin essentially learned defense from Chuck Noll. Sure, there are many differences between the defense that Noll used in the 70s and the defense that Mike Tomlin has used over the past five years...but, the foundation is essentially the same.
While philosophically Tomlin is much like Noll and Dungy, there is one glaring difference: Mike Tomlin is not one for stoicism on the sidelines. In that regard, he is more like Bill Cowher: fiery, energetic, and emotional. Thus, Tomlin is a combination of the best parts of both of Pittsburgh's legendary coaches: Cowher's fire and Noll's schemes.
Speaking of fire and schemes, Pittsburgh fans are all afroth over the realization that after two decades of running the 3-4, their team will be running the 4-3. It could be said that the 3-4 is a more flexible defense, and that a coach does not need as many stars to make the 3-4 effective. I wholeheartedly agree with the first part: the 3-4 allows for many different looks from the same group of players (e.g. Clark Haggans is a defensive end on one play, and a linebacker on the next play). But, as far as the second point goes, I disagree: defenses are dominant when they have dominant players... period.
For example, in recent history, the Steelers were ranked either first or second in defense in the years when they had a player who was "defensive MVP" worthy. In 2001, Kendrell Bell was the defensive rookie of the year. In 2004, James Farrior was the best defensive player in the league. And, in 2005, Troy Polamalu redefined the safety position. In other words, when the Steelers had a dominant player, their defense dominated. Conversely, in years when those aforementioned players underachieved, so did the defense (e.g. the 2006 season, when Troy was never completely healthy).
