September 12, 2021 • 9 mins
Coach Mike Tomlin's gameday podcast prior to the Steelers Week 1 game vs. the Buffalo Bills
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast with Steeler's Digest
editor Bob Labriola, Okay coach and just about every aspect.
College players have a significant adjustment to make when they
come into the NFL. One area where they might not
have as big of an adjustment is in the area
of crowd noise. For example, Dan Moore has already experienced Tuscaloose, Alabama,
(00:22):
and Athens, Georgia. Kendrick Green has been in the Horseshoe,
in the Big House and Happy Valley. Do you find
that rookies from big name programs come to you with
a foundation of how to handle crowd noise? It's an
interesting thing. I was just talking to Pat about it, uh,
just the other day, and the way I explained it
to him is this. In college football, teams go to
(00:43):
stadiums and they root for their team. In the professional game,
they go to the stadium and they root against the opponent.
And so they might have been in some environments, but
the intensity of it, the nastiness of it in professional
football is a little different than in college. What procedure
to college teams use, you know, when they have to
deal with crowd noise kind of like what you're gonna
(01:03):
have to deal with today. You know, procedurally, from a
practice standpoint, they do some of the similar things that
we do in terms of utilizing crowd noise working on
a silent count. I'm keenly aware of it because of
the close proximity that we have to the pit panthers,
and so they do similar things. Our guys have been
in similar circumstances and preparation for this. But I'm telling you, man,
when you're in the visiting stadium in the National Football League, uh,
(01:25):
the intensity of the hate, if you will, um is
at a professional level, and it's something to be appreciated.
What offensive position player on your team plays the most
significant role in the execution of the silence snap. It's
really it's really up to Ben um in In in
the center um in terms of the execution of it.
The people who are are are putting the most challenging
(01:49):
circumstances of the tackles, and so that's why you see
in in many instances the false start game, it's almost
always the tackles. It's those definitive passing situations where you
know that the team or the opponent of the offense
is passing where defensive alignment are really trying to get
off on the ball. That really tests the offensive tackles
(02:09):
in silent count UH situations and so their challenge. But mechanically, technically,
it is really on the quarterback in the center. Do
you only use the snap count when the quarterback is
in shotgun silence? Silent count? When whenever, whenever the crowd
circumstances dictate. And so you're going to games like this
anticipating possession downs, it's going to be a factor UH
(02:31):
significantly h the first series, second series of the game.
Just the intensity and and the excitement associated with the
beginning of the game. We'll play it by ear from there. Oftentimes,
the quality of our play determines the intensity of that
silent count moving forward. We make enough plays early on,
it becomes less significant. And that's something that we've been
(02:52):
talking about and acknowledging through the preparation process. Can you
get away with when the quarterbacks under center just using
regular cadence. It just depends on how well you're playing
UH to score the game, the level of success that
your offense is having in terms of moving the ball.
You can quell the crowd with quality play in what
ways does the crowd noise impact their own defense in
(03:17):
a game like you're gonna face today. You know, I
explain it this way. When we're when we're preparing for
home games, our defense works with crowd noise. Uh, their
communication is strained. Um, believe me, it's a problem that
defense is embraced. Um, it's a challenge, but it's a
problem that defense is embraced because, Uh, they definitely want
to minimize some of the things that come with offensive football.
(03:40):
The adjustments that you have to make in regards to
crowd noise. It's a it's a welcome adjustment from a
defensive perspective. Is there anything you can do to take
advantage of that? As the visiting team knowing that their
defense may be having trouble communicating very little To be
honest with you, you know you you you're gonna open
yourself up for errors working at pace and things of
that nature, trying to be an attack mode, particularly in
(04:03):
the early portions of the season. Um, we can simulate it.
We worked hard at it in a practice setting, but
nothing is going to simulate exactly the environment we're gonna
be in there being on Sunday, so We're more focused
on what it is that we do the manner in
which we um you know, UM act according to that,
as opposed to things that we could potentially do to
(04:23):
Buffalo's defense because they're in the same environment. The Steelers
family in the Pittsburgh community lost tounch Ilkin about a
week ago. How will you remember him? You know, I
remember those non football moments. Man. We had a formal relationship, um,
but we also had a very informal relationship. Man. I'm
honored to consider him a friend. Man. He came alongside
me and a lot of things that were important to me. Uh.
(04:44):
He was a mainstay in my man up Uh initiative
in terms of encouraging guys to be the very best
dads they could be. He was an m C for
that every year. Just his general spirits, you know. Uh,
you walk past Hunch and you say, hey, good morning,
how you doing? And he said, all they say better
than I deserve. And that resonated with me, and uh,
I do it in return, and I do it with others. Uh.
(05:07):
That's just the type of guy he was. Man. He
was a walking, talking blueprint for for all of us
in terms of how to live our lives. A couple
of days ago, t J. Watt signed a contract extension. UM,
what's your policy with regard to involving yourself in negotiations
and maybe in a behind the scenes manner and trying
to help sides come to a resolution on things like that.
(05:28):
You know, I want to focus to be on football,
and so I work closely with the player that's in
the midst of contact negotiations, just talking about how they
need to conduct themselves where their focus needs to be,
Educating them about the process, UM, reminding them that they
hired agents and so forth to handle the negotiations. It's
(05:48):
a very personal thing for a player, UM, and so
sometimes it's good to create a little distance for yourself
for sanity and let the people employed to negotiate do
that and so UM, those are kind of the things
that I try to involve myself in so that the player.
You know, it's a repeat thing for me. I've been
in this business at this level for a long time. Oftentimes,
(06:09):
like in the case of t J. Watt Man, it's
the first time, and so I just try to be
helpful to them in terms of information, in terms of
what the process is like, so that they can manage
your energy and their focus and and be right minded
in regards to their craft, which is football. Last Tuesday
at your news conference, when you were talking about Dan Moore,
the rookie tackle who starts today, you said his floor
(06:30):
was higher than anticipated from your perspective, What specifically were
you referencing his general readiness, Um, the skills that he
possesses relative to his position, his hand uses, but more
than that, his maturity, his mentality. Uh, the way he
takes the in information and the quality in which he
takes the in information. He's a quick study. He almost
(06:52):
gives you that vet vibe in terms of how he
receives information, which is a great asset to a young guy. Man.
He's a quick learner. And that's what I mean when
I when I talk about his floor being high and anticipated.
Is that similar to you saying it's not too big
for him? No question, no question. I just you know,
to me that's somewhat mystical. Um, I just I like
(07:13):
to talk in more tangible ways. Uh. The reasons why
it's not too big for him. Uh, he's a quick study.
His skill level relative to his position. Uh, he came
with a with a nice level of preparedness. But oftentimes,
you know, you get a three year starter from the
sec um. You know that's the case. And and and
that's one of the things that's really attractive about guys
(07:35):
that you know, kind of compete in that league and
the reputation that that league has as a certain readiness
associated with it. Do you think that the use of
a spy against the quarterback like Josh Allen can be
effective strategy? It's an avenue, um. You know, some people
like it more than others. Is good depending on who
that spy is. I laugh. Oftentimes sometimes when they put
(07:58):
a d line in at the spy position who is
not as good an athlete as a quarterback, like you know,
is not good under those circumstances. It depends who your
spy is. I used to always feel comfortable when our
spy was Ryan js here because Ryan could run down anybody. Um.
But if the guy that you have spying is for
eight and he's chasing Lamar Jackson, you know, not so good,
(08:19):
you might as well include him in the rush. And
so there's a lot of layers to that spy discussion.
How does the use of a spy impact the other
ten guys? On defense. You know, it's one less guy
in coverage, it's one pure coverage, is one less guy
in pure rush. And so there's some giving take. Their
football is very mathematical. It's eleven on eleven game, and
(08:39):
when you start talking about quarterback mobility, you're talking about
even numbers. So you have to rob Peter to pay Paul.
And we've talked a lot about that this week in
terms of where we're lacking when we're working to minimize
Josh Allen's mobility. But that's the world we live in. Man.
We're an NFC North team. We play Lamar Jackson twice
a year and guys like that, and so we probably
(09:01):
get more practice at it than most. That's the Mike
Tomlin Show, brought to you by your neighborhood Forward Store
for the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm Bob Labriola,
Bill Hillgrove, Craig Wolflee, Missy Matthews and Max Starks are next.
As we count down to kick off. You're listening to
the Pittsburgh Steelers Radio Network.
He's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast with Steeler's Digest
editor Bob Labriola, Okay coach and just about every aspect.
College players have a significant adjustment to make when they
come into the NFL. One area where they might not
have as big of an adjustment is in the area
of crowd noise. For example, Dan Moore has already experienced Tuscaloose, Alabama,
(00:22):
and Athens, Georgia. Kendrick Green has been in the Horseshoe,
in the Big House and Happy Valley. Do you find
that rookies from big name programs come to you with
a foundation of how to handle crowd noise? It's an
interesting thing. I was just talking to Pat about it, uh,
just the other day, and the way I explained it
to him is this. In college football, teams go to
(00:43):
stadiums and they root for their team. In the professional game,
they go to the stadium and they root against the opponent.
And so they might have been in some environments, but
the intensity of it, the nastiness of it in professional
football is a little different than in college. What procedure
to college teams use, you know, when they have to
deal with crowd noise kind of like what you're gonna
(01:03):
have to deal with today. You know, procedurally, from a
practice standpoint, they do some of the similar things that
we do in terms of utilizing crowd noise working on
a silent count. I'm keenly aware of it because of
the close proximity that we have to the pit panthers,
and so they do similar things. Our guys have been
in similar circumstances and preparation for this. But I'm telling you, man,
when you're in the visiting stadium in the National Football League, uh,
(01:25):
the intensity of the hate, if you will, um is
at a professional level, and it's something to be appreciated.
What offensive position player on your team plays the most
significant role in the execution of the silence snap. It's
really it's really up to Ben um in In in
the center um in terms of the execution of it.
The people who are are are putting the most challenging
(01:49):
circumstances of the tackles, and so that's why you see
in in many instances the false start game, it's almost
always the tackles. It's those definitive passing situations where you
know that the team or the opponent of the offense
is passing where defensive alignment are really trying to get
off on the ball. That really tests the offensive tackles
(02:09):
in silent count UH situations and so their challenge. But mechanically, technically,
it is really on the quarterback in the center. Do
you only use the snap count when the quarterback is
in shotgun silence? Silent count? When whenever, whenever the crowd
circumstances dictate. And so you're going to games like this
anticipating possession downs, it's going to be a factor UH
(02:31):
significantly h the first series, second series of the game.
Just the intensity and and the excitement associated with the
beginning of the game. We'll play it by ear from there. Oftentimes,
the quality of our play determines the intensity of that
silent count moving forward. We make enough plays early on,
it becomes less significant. And that's something that we've been
(02:52):
talking about and acknowledging through the preparation process. Can you
get away with when the quarterbacks under center just using
regular cadence. It just depends on how well you're playing
UH to score the game, the level of success that
your offense is having in terms of moving the ball.
You can quell the crowd with quality play in what
ways does the crowd noise impact their own defense in
(03:17):
a game like you're gonna face today. You know, I
explain it this way. When we're when we're preparing for
home games, our defense works with crowd noise. Uh, their
communication is strained. Um, believe me, it's a problem that
defense is embraced. Um, it's a challenge, but it's a
problem that defense is embraced because, Uh, they definitely want
to minimize some of the things that come with offensive football.
(03:40):
The adjustments that you have to make in regards to
crowd noise. It's a it's a welcome adjustment from a
defensive perspective. Is there anything you can do to take
advantage of that? As the visiting team knowing that their
defense may be having trouble communicating very little To be
honest with you, you know you you you're gonna open
yourself up for errors working at pace and things of
that nature, trying to be an attack mode, particularly in
(04:03):
the early portions of the season. Um, we can simulate it.
We worked hard at it in a practice setting, but
nothing is going to simulate exactly the environment we're gonna
be in there being on Sunday, so We're more focused
on what it is that we do the manner in
which we um you know, UM act according to that,
as opposed to things that we could potentially do to
(04:23):
Buffalo's defense because they're in the same environment. The Steelers
family in the Pittsburgh community lost tounch Ilkin about a
week ago. How will you remember him? You know, I
remember those non football moments. Man. We had a formal relationship, um,
but we also had a very informal relationship. Man. I'm
honored to consider him a friend. Man. He came alongside
me and a lot of things that were important to me. Uh.
(04:44):
He was a mainstay in my man up Uh initiative
in terms of encouraging guys to be the very best
dads they could be. He was an m C for
that every year. Just his general spirits, you know. Uh,
you walk past Hunch and you say, hey, good morning,
how you doing? And he said, all they say better
than I deserve. And that resonated with me, and uh,
I do it in return, and I do it with others. Uh.
(05:07):
That's just the type of guy he was. Man. He
was a walking, talking blueprint for for all of us
in terms of how to live our lives. A couple
of days ago, t J. Watt signed a contract extension. UM,
what's your policy with regard to involving yourself in negotiations
and maybe in a behind the scenes manner and trying
to help sides come to a resolution on things like that.
(05:28):
You know, I want to focus to be on football,
and so I work closely with the player that's in
the midst of contact negotiations, just talking about how they
need to conduct themselves where their focus needs to be,
Educating them about the process, UM, reminding them that they
hired agents and so forth to handle the negotiations. It's
(05:48):
a very personal thing for a player, UM, and so
sometimes it's good to create a little distance for yourself
for sanity and let the people employed to negotiate do
that and so UM, those are kind of the things
that I try to involve myself in so that the player.
You know, it's a repeat thing for me. I've been
in this business at this level for a long time. Oftentimes,
(06:09):
like in the case of t J. Watt Man, it's
the first time, and so I just try to be
helpful to them in terms of information, in terms of
what the process is like, so that they can manage
your energy and their focus and and be right minded
in regards to their craft, which is football. Last Tuesday
at your news conference, when you were talking about Dan Moore,
the rookie tackle who starts today, you said his floor
(06:30):
was higher than anticipated from your perspective, What specifically were
you referencing his general readiness, Um, the skills that he
possesses relative to his position, his hand uses, but more
than that, his maturity, his mentality. Uh, the way he
takes the in information and the quality in which he
takes the in information. He's a quick study. He almost
(06:52):
gives you that vet vibe in terms of how he
receives information, which is a great asset to a young guy. Man.
He's a quick learner. And that's what I mean when
I when I talk about his floor being high and anticipated.
Is that similar to you saying it's not too big
for him? No question, no question. I just you know,
to me that's somewhat mystical. Um, I just I like
(07:13):
to talk in more tangible ways. Uh. The reasons why
it's not too big for him. Uh, he's a quick study.
His skill level relative to his position. Uh, he came
with a with a nice level of preparedness. But oftentimes,
you know, you get a three year starter from the
sec um. You know that's the case. And and and
that's one of the things that's really attractive about guys
(07:35):
that you know, kind of compete in that league and
the reputation that that league has as a certain readiness
associated with it. Do you think that the use of
a spy against the quarterback like Josh Allen can be
effective strategy? It's an avenue, um. You know, some people
like it more than others. Is good depending on who
that spy is. I laugh. Oftentimes sometimes when they put
(07:58):
a d line in at the spy position who is
not as good an athlete as a quarterback, like you know,
is not good under those circumstances. It depends who your
spy is. I used to always feel comfortable when our
spy was Ryan js here because Ryan could run down anybody. Um.
But if the guy that you have spying is for
eight and he's chasing Lamar Jackson, you know, not so good,
(08:19):
you might as well include him in the rush. And
so there's a lot of layers to that spy discussion.
How does the use of a spy impact the other
ten guys? On defense. You know, it's one less guy
in coverage, it's one pure coverage, is one less guy
in pure rush. And so there's some giving take. Their
football is very mathematical. It's eleven on eleven game, and
(08:39):
when you start talking about quarterback mobility, you're talking about
even numbers. So you have to rob Peter to pay Paul.
And we've talked a lot about that this week in
terms of where we're lacking when we're working to minimize
Josh Allen's mobility. But that's the world we live in. Man.
We're an NFC North team. We play Lamar Jackson twice
a year and guys like that, and so we probably
(09:01):
get more practice at it than most. That's the Mike
Tomlin Show, brought to you by your neighborhood Forward Store
for the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm Bob Labriola,
Bill Hillgrove, Craig Wolflee, Missy Matthews and Max Starks are next.
As we count down to kick off. You're listening to
the Pittsburgh Steelers Radio Network.
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