August 16, 2025 • 13 mins
Steelers Digest Editor Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers' 2nd pre season game of the 2025 Season vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin king Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay coach. In the first quarter of
the preseason opener in Jacksonville, after Darnell Washington came to
the sideline after catching a nineteen yard touchdown pass and
then got flagged for dunking the football over the crossbar
and celebration, the TV cameras caught you talking to him
(00:22):
on the sideline. What was the tone of your message.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'll keep that between Darnelle and I, but you can
imagine what the tone was. He's a talented young guy.
It was a heck of a play, but that doesn't
help us secure victory. That's that's not what we're about.
And so it's important that he received that message, and
the quicker the better. No time like immediate feedback on
(00:46):
lessons like that, but I'm sure I probably was a
third or fourth person that got to him. I think
his position coach almost madeamona field of play, and so
it's growth and development in this team development process and
lot of ways and hopefully that was not only a
lesson for him, but a lesson for others as well.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
At any point did you privately think how great it
was to have a six foot seven, three hundred pint
three hundred pound tight end with the athletic ability to
dunk a football over the crossbar in full bads and
what he could do for your offense.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
You know, I don't know, did that ever cross my mind?
I appreciate the measurables and attributes that you mentioned, but
not in reference to dunking on the goal post, because again,
that is a definitive penalty in our game, and penalties
don't help us win football games. Man, this is the
ultimate parody league. Most of these games come down to
a few points, a few number of points, and when
(01:41):
you're kicking forty eight yard extra points, that doesn't help
you secure victory.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
You often say it's your job to give players what
it is they need when they need it. What did
Broderick Jones need during the time the team spent at
Saint Vincent College.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
He needed good on good work, and and that age
growth and development got it. Obviously, we got some quality
edged people, particularly in our first group defensively, guys like
TJ Alex Highsmith and Herbick. And part of our approach
to getting better is Steelers versus Steelers, meaning we go
(02:16):
good on good in team development. We just believe in
that some organizations will go twos versus ones and one
versus two's in an effort to aid development that way.
I'm not judging that course of action, but we're one
versus ones, twos versus twos type of a group, and
I just think that approach to business really aids his
(02:37):
growth and development because he gets to see some top
flight edge rushers each and every day, and he did
and he and he performed very well against them.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Detroit Faltano, who's another developing young offensive tackle, need the
same things.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Absolutely. They certainly have enough talent. That's why they were
selected where they were selected and rated where they were
rated globally. Their their quality of play would be largely
determined by their development, and that development requires reps and
and and particularly reps versus good people.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Does a player on either a young one like most
of your offensive linemen or a twenty one year veteran
like Aaron Rodgers, do they have any input in what
they need? Or is that your decision?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Unilaterally the older player has has more input than the
younger player. Okay, some conversations are one way. Some conversations
are interactive. The older the player, particularly the more experience
that I have with an older player, there's certainly more
communication because I value their in helmet perspective, their experience,
(03:46):
what they have experienced, and so why wouldn't I utilize
that in the formulation of decision making. Some young guys
I don't trust their experience or lack thereof, and so
I make those decisions with their benefit.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
And so how do you balance installing and developing a
unit on your team with not revealing too much too
soon to your future opponents? An example of that what
I mean is what you're going to do on defense
with so many new components at your disposal.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
You know some things we're going to do. What we do,
people know it, and so why hide it if you will?
Some of your core things. We're a dog rush team.
We've been a dog rush team for a long time
in Pittsburgh. I mean, dating back to Greg Lloyd and
Kevin Green. The Pittsburgh Steelers were known as a dog
(04:36):
rush team. And so those are old school values that
I happen to really appreciate and wanted to continue during
my tenure here. And it's really kind of aligned philosophically
with the things I believe in, and so Man, I
don't care that people know it is Blissberg. It's what
we do. But certain wrinkles that we are developing schematically,
(04:59):
or personnel combinations, anything involving specialization. We certainly may hold
some of those things until regular season football, and it
might not be Week one. It might be until it's
relevant in terms of a matchup or a component of
play that gives us an advantage to win. And so
(05:19):
we choose the whole bullets that are specialized and new,
that are big strategic things, particularly in situational moments, or
things done to minimize special players. And then there's a
bucket of things that we do that people know that
we do, and we don't care that they know.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
During an appearance on the DVE Morning Show at the
end of Camp and Latrobe, you said this about your defense.
We feel really good about the prospects of this group.
We got to write that story. But we've got enough talent,
We've got enough schematics to do big, big things. And
when I say big things, I'm talking about historic things.
What are historic things in your mind?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I say that based on my experience, I've been around
some really elite defenses, and I believe we had to
make up to be that. But elite defenses deliver world championships.
Elite defenses are on the cover of Sports Illustrated, you know,
when you're in those neighborhoods knocking on those doors. I
simply was talking about I think we got enough ingredients
(06:18):
that we need to we need to make that a
goal of ours and not a dream, meaning something that
we're capable of, something that we're gonna work toward daily.
I feel that that good about the collection of men
that we have and the development of schematics that we have,
and so we can't run away from expectations. We got
to run to it. And I thoughtfully put that out
(06:40):
there because that's how I feel about it.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
The addition of Aaron Rodgers so far has been something
that is working out very well on a number of levels.
Did you need to find a level of comfort with
him before deciding to add him to this group?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
You know, certainly on a personal level, not from a
from a football resume or talent perspective. I think relationships
require certain fits, and so certainly it requires some discussion,
not only us to get to know him, but but
him to get to know us. I'm sure he was
(07:15):
evaluating me and us as much as I was evaluating him, uh,
to make sure that our agenda was aligned. Obviously, a
quarterback is a significant position. It's a unique role, UH,
and it certainly helps the process when his vision and
personal aspirations are aligned with those of of the team
and the organization. And they were.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So how did you reach that level of comfort through conversation?
Was it one a series just you know, without giving
away what you talked about?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It it It certainly was a series of conversation, and
really it was more about what he was looking for
at this stage of his career. It was about his
relationship with the game, his love affairs with the game,
his leadership style, has desired to lead. Those were kind
of the talking points, and all of those things were
(08:10):
really aligned with our needs.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
You were going into your nineteenth season as a Steelers
coach and the business aspect of the NFL has undergone
a lot of changes during that time. How do you
balance working with players as their coach and having no
control over the business aspect of the sport.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You know, it's easy when I deal with guys, whether
it's the collective or whether it's individuals, I don't see
dollar signs. You know, we understand what business we're in,
but we also understand the game that we all love,
and so I've always been able to compartmentalize that personally.
We've all had coach player relationships all our lives at
(08:51):
various levels, and so we understand what that is. And
the dollar science can't get in the way of that.
They've never really kind of gotten in the way of that.
Day to day when you're doing the mundane things that
are required or even unique things that are required, you
deal with men. You deal with men as a collective.
You deal with men on an individual basis. I don't
(09:13):
subscribe to treating everybody the same, but I subscribe to
treating everybody fairly, and oftentimes in my interactions with them,
dollar signs are are a distant component of interactions.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
On Thursday, you had a joint practice with the Buccaneers
at Akorcure Stadium. How does that? How does something like
that come about?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Generally that organization has to be an appropriate dance partner,
and it's a couple of things that are significant there.
First of all, I got a lot of respect for
Coach Bowles and his staff and philosophically in terms of
how we work the things that we value. Through my
relationship with him over the years, I knew that we
were aligned and we'd have the potential for a good
(09:54):
productive day. But also it has to be appropriate logistically,
and so you know, we're we're playing them here, and
they were willing to come up and and find appropriate
housing and a and a place to work over at CMU,
and so things fell into the place logistically, and they're
and they're a good philosophical dance partner, and that's usually
(10:16):
the things that that that allow those things to happen.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So tonight against the Buccaneers, it's your second preseason game. Uh,
and you have said it's reasonable to expect the team
to take a significant step forward from preseason game one
to preseason game two.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
What qualifies in your mind as a significant step?
Speaker 2 (10:34):
You know, it's reasonable to expect us to play cleaner,
to to function more fluidly, and those things are not
often revealed in statistics or in film. How we communicate,
how we exchange personnel groups, the fact that we'll probably
use more personnel groups this time around, and carry a
larger menu. It's just things that are pushing toward game readiness.
(11:00):
There'll be some more game planning specific to competing against
the Buccaneers because we've practiced against them, and so there's
an awareness there that we didn't have a week ago
against Jacksonville. And so there's a lot of things that
the guys have to manage that are probably a little
bit more complex, a little bit more in depth than
a week ago. But that's just a natural progression in
(11:22):
this process. Aside from what they have to manage, I
also expect better quality play from them we've been in
a stadium before. Particularly the guys that are new to
us and new to the National Football League, they're less
speculation about what comes next. They should be more comfortable.
They should be more comfortable, they should burns less fuel,
to be quite honest with you, in prep and in play.
(11:47):
Their conditioning should show better the second time around. And
so there's a lot of tangible things that does show
up in stats and on film that I'm excited about
as well.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
For the preseason opener, you made some decison visions about
which guys would not play. When making such decisions for
tonight's game, are your reasons the same or different.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Very similar, to be quite honest with you, It's just
coupled with an additional week of work and exposure. As
I mentioned a week ago, some guy's resume and experience
dictate that they need less prep, and some guys lack
of resume and lack of experience dictate that need more prep.
It's my job to give the collective of what it
(12:28):
is they need, and so it's the same. But couple
that with another week's work, and oftentimes the quality of
work of the veteran player dictates whether or not I
utilize them in games like this, and so we're taking
a very similar approach this week as we took last week.
The guys I held out of last week's performance largely
had a good, productive growth week of prep this week.
(12:51):
I like the trajectory of those guys, and as long
as I like the trajectory of those guys, I'll continue
to preserve them and provide more opportunity for others.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast
network that's available on the Steelers mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
He's the Mike Tomlin king Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay coach. In the first quarter of
the preseason opener in Jacksonville, after Darnell Washington came to
the sideline after catching a nineteen yard touchdown pass and
then got flagged for dunking the football over the crossbar
and celebration, the TV cameras caught you talking to him
(00:22):
on the sideline. What was the tone of your message.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'll keep that between Darnelle and I, but you can
imagine what the tone was. He's a talented young guy.
It was a heck of a play, but that doesn't
help us secure victory. That's that's not what we're about.
And so it's important that he received that message, and
the quicker the better. No time like immediate feedback on
(00:46):
lessons like that, but I'm sure I probably was a
third or fourth person that got to him. I think
his position coach almost madeamona field of play, and so
it's growth and development in this team development process and
lot of ways and hopefully that was not only a
lesson for him, but a lesson for others as well.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
At any point did you privately think how great it
was to have a six foot seven, three hundred pint
three hundred pound tight end with the athletic ability to
dunk a football over the crossbar in full bads and
what he could do for your offense.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
You know, I don't know, did that ever cross my mind?
I appreciate the measurables and attributes that you mentioned, but
not in reference to dunking on the goal post, because again,
that is a definitive penalty in our game, and penalties
don't help us win football games. Man, this is the
ultimate parody league. Most of these games come down to
a few points, a few number of points, and when
(01:41):
you're kicking forty eight yard extra points, that doesn't help
you secure victory.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
You often say it's your job to give players what
it is they need when they need it. What did
Broderick Jones need during the time the team spent at
Saint Vincent College.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
He needed good on good work, and and that age
growth and development got it. Obviously, we got some quality
edged people, particularly in our first group defensively, guys like
TJ Alex Highsmith and Herbick. And part of our approach
to getting better is Steelers versus Steelers, meaning we go
(02:16):
good on good in team development. We just believe in
that some organizations will go twos versus ones and one
versus two's in an effort to aid development that way.
I'm not judging that course of action, but we're one
versus ones, twos versus twos type of a group, and
I just think that approach to business really aids his
(02:37):
growth and development because he gets to see some top
flight edge rushers each and every day, and he did
and he and he performed very well against them.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Detroit Faltano, who's another developing young offensive tackle, need the
same things.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Absolutely. They certainly have enough talent. That's why they were
selected where they were selected and rated where they were
rated globally. Their their quality of play would be largely
determined by their development, and that development requires reps and
and and particularly reps versus good people.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Does a player on either a young one like most
of your offensive linemen or a twenty one year veteran
like Aaron Rodgers, do they have any input in what
they need? Or is that your decision?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Unilaterally the older player has has more input than the
younger player. Okay, some conversations are one way. Some conversations
are interactive. The older the player, particularly the more experience
that I have with an older player, there's certainly more
communication because I value their in helmet perspective, their experience,
(03:46):
what they have experienced, and so why wouldn't I utilize
that in the formulation of decision making. Some young guys
I don't trust their experience or lack thereof, and so
I make those decisions with their benefit.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
And so how do you balance installing and developing a
unit on your team with not revealing too much too
soon to your future opponents? An example of that what
I mean is what you're going to do on defense
with so many new components at your disposal.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
You know some things we're going to do. What we do,
people know it, and so why hide it if you will?
Some of your core things. We're a dog rush team.
We've been a dog rush team for a long time
in Pittsburgh. I mean, dating back to Greg Lloyd and
Kevin Green. The Pittsburgh Steelers were known as a dog
(04:36):
rush team. And so those are old school values that
I happen to really appreciate and wanted to continue during
my tenure here. And it's really kind of aligned philosophically
with the things I believe in, and so Man, I
don't care that people know it is Blissberg. It's what
we do. But certain wrinkles that we are developing schematically,
(04:59):
or personnel combinations, anything involving specialization. We certainly may hold
some of those things until regular season football, and it
might not be Week one. It might be until it's
relevant in terms of a matchup or a component of
play that gives us an advantage to win. And so
(05:19):
we choose the whole bullets that are specialized and new,
that are big strategic things, particularly in situational moments, or
things done to minimize special players. And then there's a
bucket of things that we do that people know that
we do, and we don't care that they know.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
During an appearance on the DVE Morning Show at the
end of Camp and Latrobe, you said this about your defense.
We feel really good about the prospects of this group.
We got to write that story. But we've got enough talent,
We've got enough schematics to do big, big things. And
when I say big things, I'm talking about historic things.
What are historic things in your mind?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I say that based on my experience, I've been around
some really elite defenses, and I believe we had to
make up to be that. But elite defenses deliver world championships.
Elite defenses are on the cover of Sports Illustrated, you know,
when you're in those neighborhoods knocking on those doors. I
simply was talking about I think we got enough ingredients
(06:18):
that we need to we need to make that a
goal of ours and not a dream, meaning something that
we're capable of, something that we're gonna work toward daily.
I feel that that good about the collection of men
that we have and the development of schematics that we have,
and so we can't run away from expectations. We got
to run to it. And I thoughtfully put that out
(06:40):
there because that's how I feel about it.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
The addition of Aaron Rodgers so far has been something
that is working out very well on a number of levels.
Did you need to find a level of comfort with
him before deciding to add him to this group?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
You know, certainly on a personal level, not from a
from a football resume or talent perspective. I think relationships
require certain fits, and so certainly it requires some discussion,
not only us to get to know him, but but
him to get to know us. I'm sure he was
(07:15):
evaluating me and us as much as I was evaluating him, uh,
to make sure that our agenda was aligned. Obviously, a
quarterback is a significant position. It's a unique role, UH,
and it certainly helps the process when his vision and
personal aspirations are aligned with those of of the team
and the organization. And they were.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So how did you reach that level of comfort through conversation?
Was it one a series just you know, without giving
away what you talked about?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It it It certainly was a series of conversation, and
really it was more about what he was looking for
at this stage of his career. It was about his
relationship with the game, his love affairs with the game,
his leadership style, has desired to lead. Those were kind
of the talking points, and all of those things were
(08:10):
really aligned with our needs.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
You were going into your nineteenth season as a Steelers
coach and the business aspect of the NFL has undergone
a lot of changes during that time. How do you
balance working with players as their coach and having no
control over the business aspect of the sport.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You know, it's easy when I deal with guys, whether
it's the collective or whether it's individuals, I don't see
dollar signs. You know, we understand what business we're in,
but we also understand the game that we all love,
and so I've always been able to compartmentalize that personally.
We've all had coach player relationships all our lives at
(08:51):
various levels, and so we understand what that is. And
the dollar science can't get in the way of that.
They've never really kind of gotten in the way of that.
Day to day when you're doing the mundane things that
are required or even unique things that are required, you
deal with men. You deal with men as a collective.
You deal with men on an individual basis. I don't
(09:13):
subscribe to treating everybody the same, but I subscribe to
treating everybody fairly, and oftentimes in my interactions with them,
dollar signs are are a distant component of interactions.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
On Thursday, you had a joint practice with the Buccaneers
at Akorcure Stadium. How does that? How does something like
that come about?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Generally that organization has to be an appropriate dance partner,
and it's a couple of things that are significant there.
First of all, I got a lot of respect for
Coach Bowles and his staff and philosophically in terms of
how we work the things that we value. Through my
relationship with him over the years, I knew that we
were aligned and we'd have the potential for a good
(09:54):
productive day. But also it has to be appropriate logistically,
and so you know, we're we're playing them here, and
they were willing to come up and and find appropriate
housing and a and a place to work over at CMU,
and so things fell into the place logistically, and they're
and they're a good philosophical dance partner, and that's usually
(10:16):
the things that that that allow those things to happen.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So tonight against the Buccaneers, it's your second preseason game. Uh,
and you have said it's reasonable to expect the team
to take a significant step forward from preseason game one
to preseason game two.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
What qualifies in your mind as a significant step?
Speaker 2 (10:34):
You know, it's reasonable to expect us to play cleaner,
to to function more fluidly, and those things are not
often revealed in statistics or in film. How we communicate,
how we exchange personnel groups, the fact that we'll probably
use more personnel groups this time around, and carry a
larger menu. It's just things that are pushing toward game readiness.
(11:00):
There'll be some more game planning specific to competing against
the Buccaneers because we've practiced against them, and so there's
an awareness there that we didn't have a week ago
against Jacksonville. And so there's a lot of things that
the guys have to manage that are probably a little
bit more complex, a little bit more in depth than
a week ago. But that's just a natural progression in
(11:22):
this process. Aside from what they have to manage, I
also expect better quality play from them we've been in
a stadium before. Particularly the guys that are new to
us and new to the National Football League, they're less
speculation about what comes next. They should be more comfortable.
They should be more comfortable, they should burns less fuel,
to be quite honest with you, in prep and in play.
(11:47):
Their conditioning should show better the second time around. And
so there's a lot of tangible things that does show
up in stats and on film that I'm excited about
as well.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
For the preseason opener, you made some decison visions about
which guys would not play. When making such decisions for
tonight's game, are your reasons the same or different.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Very similar, to be quite honest with you, It's just
coupled with an additional week of work and exposure. As
I mentioned a week ago, some guy's resume and experience
dictate that they need less prep, and some guys lack
of resume and lack of experience dictate that need more prep.
It's my job to give the collective of what it
(12:28):
is they need, and so it's the same. But couple
that with another week's work, and oftentimes the quality of
work of the veteran player dictates whether or not I
utilize them in games like this, and so we're taking
a very similar approach this week as we took last week.
The guys I held out of last week's performance largely
had a good, productive growth week of prep this week.
(12:51):
I like the trajectory of those guys, and as long
as I like the trajectory of those guys, I'll continue
to preserve them and provide more opportunity for others.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast
network that's available on the Steelers mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
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