Mike Tomlin: No problem with labels, big problem with stereotypes
By Phil Watson
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin reacted harshly to a Fox Sports pregame interview when he was referred to as a players’ coach, but told a reporter Tuesday that it wasn’t the label that bothered him.
Tomlin told ESPN.com he is “not insulted by that term in any way.”
On Sunday, he replied that longtime Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is never called a players’ coach because he is “an old white guy.”
On Tuesday, Tomlin said he took exception to the racial and age connotations behind the term.
"“I refuse to be put in a box. It’s my job to be what my team needs me to be. Sometimes it’s close and cuddly and sometimes it’s not. I don’t have any problem being any of the above.“Sometimes when they couple ‘players’ coach’ with questions about how I wear my hair or what I choose to wear on the sidelines or what type of music I listen to, then it gets kind of old and falls into that category for me.”"
Tomlin isn’t wrong. The scouting types last spring continually tried to compare Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel with former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, when the truth of the matter was that based on size and skill set, Manziel much more closely resembles Michael Vick.
Tomlin was only 34 when the Steelers hired him in 2007, so of course he was going to dress and wear his hair differently than many of his older coaching counterparts.
After all, some of them might just be jealous Tomlin still has hair to style.
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