December 2, 2022 • 13 mins
Steelers Digest Editor Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Week 13 matchup with the Falcons
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach, after the win over the Colts,
your record on Monday night football is now nineteen and three,
and then talking about that game in general, you said,
I respect Monday night football and make sure our team
does too. What is it that you respect about Monday
(00:21):
night football and what is your message to the team
about that? The scarcity of it? Um, all of these
games are special. Um, it's not the NBA schedule. We
got eighty two games to state your case for playoff positioning,
and so I don't want to devalue the other games.
They're all special. Um. But the scarcity of Monday night
opportunities for those of us that love football and grew
(00:42):
up on the Americana, if you will, of of Monday
night football. Um, it's special opportunities. I've been on my
job sixteen years. You mentioned my record is nineteen and three,
and so there's some scarcity there, and UM, I sell
that to our guys. But beyond that, the appreciation of
it from a football lover standpoint, there's an additional day
(01:03):
day and a half, really thirty six hours or so.
Of additional preparation. I'm very thoughtful and intentional about how
I utilize at additional thirty six hours in terms of
preparing our group. So it's is the is it a
factor at all? Everybody's watching that game because that's the
only game being played. I love that component of it. Um,
(01:25):
there's probably an intangible quality to it, but it's not
something that I acknowledge that you can measure. For the
second straight week. Uh, in the games against the Bengals
and then the Colts, your team put together a solid
first half and build a halftime lead, only to see
it evaporate during the third quarter. Now, if this was basketball,
coach might call a time out or two to try
to break the opponent's momentum or give his team a
(01:48):
chance to regroup. But in football, time outs are precious.
So is there anything a football coach can do when
that's happening to his team? You know you can. You
can be aggressive in your schematic, UH, play call in
and play design and an effort to produce plays because
that's what turns the tide in terms of EBB and flow. UM.
The minute Indianapolis had that big kickoff return man and
(02:10):
put seven points on the board going into the second half,
you knew it was game on and and the thing
that that swings that is significant plays or splash plays,
and so um, what can a coach do? You can
get more aggressive in your play calling if you will,
in an effort to produce the splash plays. That changes
the emotions of the moment and turns the tide of
(02:32):
the ebb and flow. But again, when you're talking about
doing things that produce splash, it also comes with risk,
and if you're unsuccessful in doing so, then you're adding
to that momentum. And so um, if you exercise some
patients and state. Of course, when time in the factor,
it smooths out over time, which is what happened on
Monday night. If time is of the essence, you better
(02:53):
get aggressive. But with aggression comes risk. What are the
ingredients the good kickoff courage in the NFL, whooping blocks,
making tackles and unblocked guys making tackles. We're not gonna
make the simple complex. I'm not gonna have a long
soliloquy and talk about all the things that could transpires thematically.
(03:13):
They got eleven, We got eleven good kickoff coverages. Guys
running down there with their hair on fire, whooping blocks
and making tackles, and those that are unblocked make tackles.
And that's what we haven't been doing a good enough
job of. We're not whooping blocks and making tackles. We
gotta get off blocks, we gotta make tackles. Those are
us that are unblocked, gotta make tackles. And if you
(03:34):
turn our tape on, you'll see that. It is just
that it's not rocket science. So for me to simplify
what you just said, correct me if I'm wrong. It's
more about want to than schemes and technique, or it
might be skill oriented. Sometimes it is. A coach compointed
in it. And if I got our guys in bad matchups,
um people blocking them that they can't whoop, or us
(03:56):
blocking people that we can't block, then you know there's
a match up or personnel matchup component to it. It's
it's you know, there's some strategy to it. The strategy
is in how those eleven individual bodies come together and
who is on who. If you have a you know,
linebacker blocking the dB um, you know, if he gets
(04:18):
his hands on him, he might win that battle. But
it might be difficult for him to get his hands
on him if there's a lot of space because of
the athleticism component. And that's why I say unblocked guys
make tackles because they're unblocked guys on every kickoff because
somebody loses battles quickly, and usually the ones that lose
battles quickly is because it's a poor athletic mismatch. So recently,
(04:41):
most kickoffs are touchbacks. Um. I don't know the exact percent,
but most kickoffs are touchbacks. So as here as you're
watching video, both of your team and the team you're
gonna play, do you notice I won't say a lot
of daisical attitude, but maybe an assumption by either side
that hey, this this ball is gonna be a touchback.
(05:03):
I'll just kind of very rarely. I just think that
you know, Um, in the NFL, I think everybody knows
that the urgency at the moments and people will come
back at you very rarely. Um, would I attribute a
kickoff return success to two people taking their foot off
the gas thinking the ball is gonna be a touchback.
(05:23):
I just think that's a that's probably a discussion for
a lower level of football. On the issue of returning kickoffs,
Do you have a rule for your return guy more
than five yards deep? It's a touch back more than
you know, take it out with the situational it's week
to week. UM. It depends on the quality of the
coverage unit. The distance is just a component of it. UM.
(05:46):
If it's five yards deep, but there's no hang, we
can come back at him. And so that's why you
chart kickers. UM, it's distance and hang. UM. One man's
kick at five yards deep might have a significantly different
hang than an other man's kick. UM, and so UM
weekend and week out, it's an individual plan for that week.
(06:06):
And there's some layers to the discussion. UM. Speaking of
your own returners, Stephen Sims has shown some ability to
make things happen as a returner since he took over
the job in late October. What are the qualities of
a good kickoff returner? Individual one on one winners, Guys
that are capable of making someone miss. Like I mentioned
earlier when we were talking about the flip side of it,
(06:27):
they're gonna be unblocked people for a variety of reasons.
And the quality kickoff return man, run over through and
around unblocked people and usually multiple people. Those are a
dynamic return people. Whether it's put our kicks, there are
two or three guys by schematic design or by or
by assignment failure that that are unblocked on just about
(06:49):
every kick in the NFL, and the ones that get
returned to the house is usually because the return man
stepped around to make someone miss or utilizes individual skill
sets to neutralize that component it of of confrontation. You've
said the more than a few ocasion occasions that you're
not really used to playing a rookie quarterback. This season
you've been playing a rookie quarterback. Is that an adjustment
(07:11):
for you? You know? Probably not in not in terms
of mentality. I don't think it's something that dominates my
thought all the time. But um, just in terms of
um the things that I can do as a head
football coach to assist him in prep um and to
communicate with him in game and utilize the things that
occur in game as a short term learning experience in
(07:32):
terms of doing what it is that we need to
do in the immediate UH time frame, but also as
a long term learning experience in an effort to grow
and establish a great base for his game and his career.
And so you know, those are the things that kind
of capture my attention. But just on the surface in
terms of putting together a plan and beating somebody and
you know, getting this group to be at his best, UM,
(07:55):
it probably doesn't dominate my thought. After Monday night's game
against the Colts, in the aftermath, you know, the interviews
and stuff, it was learned that Kenny Pickett requested the
play that resulted in Benny Snells to your touchdown run.
I don't imagine that's a kind of request that you
would grant to just anyone. So what does he have
to show you? It really is though, um at the
(08:17):
quarterback position. UM in today's game, their component of of
prep um. Kenny's in the building every Monday and Tuesday. UM,
he sees the ingredients of the hot dog, if you will.
He he knows what we're intending to get done schematically
from a game planning standpoint, because he is very much
a part of the process, and anyone that's very much
(08:39):
a part of a process is entitled to an opinion.
We get stoppages and play, we bounced things around, we're
talking to coaches on the sideline, coaches and the booth
players on the field. It's it's very fluid, and it
happens extremely fast, and I think sometimes discussions like that
get overblown and people want to make a story out
of something that is very routine and very natural. And
(09:00):
I'm just being bluntly honest with you. So it works,
it's great. But if it doesn't, then the next time
he comes to you with an idea, do you when
I stand in front of the media, it's mine. Um,
in the back of my mind, his opinion ways less
if it's unsuccessful. Certainly, before coming to Pittsburgh, you were
(09:22):
the defensive coordinator in Minnesota and the Vikings always played
home and home series with the Chicago Bears. Even though
you were not directly involved with special teams, you got
any horror stories about Devin Huster? Are you kidding me? Yes?
Two thousand and six, Man all week, Um, we talked
about kicking the ball out of bounds, even if it
(09:42):
was at a thirty to thirty five yard net. We
just wasn't gonna let him to be the difference in
the game. Um. We lost that game to the Bears
seventeen fourteen and probably about midway or the fourth we
were putting. We put the ball in the middle of
the field, like we talked about all week that we
wouldn't do, and in a great player sort of way,
(10:02):
he delivered. And I just think that that's that's a
measuring stick of a legendary player, of a generational player,
of a guy as gold jacket worthy. Um, you talk
about them all week, you see him coming, you put
together a schematic plan to minimize his impact on the game.
You check all of those boxes. But if you're in
(10:24):
any way negligent, they make you pay. And that guy
made us pay that day. Um, we were playing those guys.
They pick six to four score. Ricky Manning had an
interception for a score and he ran that punt back.
And as a defensive coordinator, when you gotta pick six
four score and a punt return for a score and
you lose seventeen fourteen, you remember those days, um. Today,
(10:46):
the special Teams challenge for the Steelers comes from cor
Darrell Patterson. Uh In his ten NFL seasons, he has
at least one one plus yard kickoff return in six
of them. What makes him so consist slantly dynamic as
a cookoff returner. He's Josh cribs Uh. He's very similar
those of us that have been in the North, remember
(11:07):
Josh cribs Um. He's fearless, he's big, he's strong, He
long strides um to the point of confrontation. He bumper
cars off the tackles, and then he has the finishes talent,
meaning that boy, if he bump our cars off of something,
he can quickly get back to speed and and finish
over the course of long distances. Some guys are quick, um,
(11:31):
but may not be fast. Those guys are quality return
punt returners, the quality dynamic kickoff returners. They have long
speed and I think that's something that Patterson has is
very similar to cribs and Devin hester Um. You know,
there have been some great punt returners that doesn't necessarily
translate the kick return and it's usually because of long
(11:53):
or finishing speed. And that's a trait that Patterson has
that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention. Boy, he
can get in the epic, he can bounce off a tackle,
but when he comes out of it, he's getting back
to speed and that's scary thinking. In the a f
C North, you have to deal with Lamar Jackson twice
a year than lately there have been regular games against Buffalo,
(12:13):
which means dealing with Josh Allen. In terms of running quarterbacks.
How does Marcus Mariotta compared to those guys you know
and now justin fields? Um, I just think that the
conversation about quarterback mobility is becoming more routine. Um, even
in the last number of years. Think about how much
has changed since Lamar has been in the league. Man
(12:34):
just a short period ago, when Lamar was young and
first start playing for Joe Man, it was a unique thing. Um,
But boy, it's it's a lot of quarterback mobility now,
um hurts. I mean, it's it's it's probably any quarterback
in his mid twenties or younger. It's probably half of
them have the type of mobility that merits schematic adjustment,
(12:56):
and so it's becoming more routine in today's game. That's
the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe in, 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 Steeler's mobile app, the i Heart
radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts,
He's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach, after the win over the Colts,
your record on Monday night football is now nineteen and three,
and then talking about that game in general, you said,
I respect Monday night football and make sure our team
does too. What is it that you respect about Monday
(00:21):
night football and what is your message to the team
about that? The scarcity of it? Um, all of these
games are special. Um, it's not the NBA schedule. We
got eighty two games to state your case for playoff positioning,
and so I don't want to devalue the other games.
They're all special. Um. But the scarcity of Monday night
opportunities for those of us that love football and grew
(00:42):
up on the Americana, if you will, of of Monday
night football. Um, it's special opportunities. I've been on my
job sixteen years. You mentioned my record is nineteen and three,
and so there's some scarcity there, and UM, I sell
that to our guys. But beyond that, the appreciation of
it from a football lover standpoint, there's an additional day
(01:03):
day and a half, really thirty six hours or so.
Of additional preparation. I'm very thoughtful and intentional about how
I utilize at additional thirty six hours in terms of
preparing our group. So it's is the is it a
factor at all? Everybody's watching that game because that's the
only game being played. I love that component of it. Um,
(01:25):
there's probably an intangible quality to it, but it's not
something that I acknowledge that you can measure. For the
second straight week. Uh, in the games against the Bengals
and then the Colts, your team put together a solid
first half and build a halftime lead, only to see
it evaporate during the third quarter. Now, if this was basketball,
coach might call a time out or two to try
to break the opponent's momentum or give his team a
(01:48):
chance to regroup. But in football, time outs are precious.
So is there anything a football coach can do when
that's happening to his team? You know you can. You
can be aggressive in your schematic, UH, play call in
and play design and an effort to produce plays because
that's what turns the tide in terms of EBB and flow. UM.
The minute Indianapolis had that big kickoff return man and
(02:10):
put seven points on the board going into the second half,
you knew it was game on and and the thing
that that swings that is significant plays or splash plays,
and so um, what can a coach do? You can
get more aggressive in your play calling if you will,
in an effort to produce the splash plays. That changes
the emotions of the moment and turns the tide of
(02:32):
the ebb and flow. But again, when you're talking about
doing things that produce splash, it also comes with risk,
and if you're unsuccessful in doing so, then you're adding
to that momentum. And so um, if you exercise some
patients and state. Of course, when time in the factor,
it smooths out over time, which is what happened on
Monday night. If time is of the essence, you better
(02:53):
get aggressive. But with aggression comes risk. What are the
ingredients the good kickoff courage in the NFL, whooping blocks,
making tackles and unblocked guys making tackles. We're not gonna
make the simple complex. I'm not gonna have a long
soliloquy and talk about all the things that could transpires thematically.
(03:13):
They got eleven, We got eleven good kickoff coverages. Guys
running down there with their hair on fire, whooping blocks
and making tackles, and those that are unblocked make tackles.
And that's what we haven't been doing a good enough
job of. We're not whooping blocks and making tackles. We
gotta get off blocks, we gotta make tackles. Those are
us that are unblocked, gotta make tackles. And if you
(03:34):
turn our tape on, you'll see that. It is just
that it's not rocket science. So for me to simplify
what you just said, correct me if I'm wrong. It's
more about want to than schemes and technique, or it
might be skill oriented. Sometimes it is. A coach compointed
in it. And if I got our guys in bad matchups,
um people blocking them that they can't whoop, or us
(03:56):
blocking people that we can't block, then you know there's
a match up or personnel matchup component to it. It's
it's you know, there's some strategy to it. The strategy
is in how those eleven individual bodies come together and
who is on who. If you have a you know,
linebacker blocking the dB um, you know, if he gets
(04:18):
his hands on him, he might win that battle. But
it might be difficult for him to get his hands
on him if there's a lot of space because of
the athleticism component. And that's why I say unblocked guys
make tackles because they're unblocked guys on every kickoff because
somebody loses battles quickly, and usually the ones that lose
battles quickly is because it's a poor athletic mismatch. So recently,
(04:41):
most kickoffs are touchbacks. Um. I don't know the exact percent,
but most kickoffs are touchbacks. So as here as you're
watching video, both of your team and the team you're
gonna play, do you notice I won't say a lot
of daisical attitude, but maybe an assumption by either side
that hey, this this ball is gonna be a touchback.
(05:03):
I'll just kind of very rarely. I just think that
you know, Um, in the NFL, I think everybody knows
that the urgency at the moments and people will come
back at you very rarely. Um, would I attribute a
kickoff return success to two people taking their foot off
the gas thinking the ball is gonna be a touchback.
(05:23):
I just think that's a that's probably a discussion for
a lower level of football. On the issue of returning kickoffs,
Do you have a rule for your return guy more
than five yards deep? It's a touch back more than
you know, take it out with the situational it's week
to week. UM. It depends on the quality of the
coverage unit. The distance is just a component of it. UM.
(05:46):
If it's five yards deep, but there's no hang, we
can come back at him. And so that's why you
chart kickers. UM, it's distance and hang. UM. One man's
kick at five yards deep might have a significantly different
hang than an other man's kick. UM, and so UM
weekend and week out, it's an individual plan for that week.
(06:06):
And there's some layers to the discussion. UM. Speaking of
your own returners, Stephen Sims has shown some ability to
make things happen as a returner since he took over
the job in late October. What are the qualities of
a good kickoff returner? Individual one on one winners, Guys
that are capable of making someone miss. Like I mentioned
earlier when we were talking about the flip side of it,
(06:27):
they're gonna be unblocked people for a variety of reasons.
And the quality kickoff return man, run over through and
around unblocked people and usually multiple people. Those are a
dynamic return people. Whether it's put our kicks, there are
two or three guys by schematic design or by or
by assignment failure that that are unblocked on just about
(06:49):
every kick in the NFL, and the ones that get
returned to the house is usually because the return man
stepped around to make someone miss or utilizes individual skill
sets to neutralize that component it of of confrontation. You've
said the more than a few ocasion occasions that you're
not really used to playing a rookie quarterback. This season
you've been playing a rookie quarterback. Is that an adjustment
(07:11):
for you? You know? Probably not in not in terms
of mentality. I don't think it's something that dominates my
thought all the time. But um, just in terms of
um the things that I can do as a head
football coach to assist him in prep um and to
communicate with him in game and utilize the things that
occur in game as a short term learning experience in
(07:32):
terms of doing what it is that we need to
do in the immediate UH time frame, but also as
a long term learning experience in an effort to grow
and establish a great base for his game and his career.
And so you know, those are the things that kind
of capture my attention. But just on the surface in
terms of putting together a plan and beating somebody and
you know, getting this group to be at his best, UM,
(07:55):
it probably doesn't dominate my thought. After Monday night's game
against the Colts, in the aftermath, you know, the interviews
and stuff, it was learned that Kenny Pickett requested the
play that resulted in Benny Snells to your touchdown run.
I don't imagine that's a kind of request that you
would grant to just anyone. So what does he have
to show you? It really is though, um at the
(08:17):
quarterback position. UM in today's game, their component of of
prep um. Kenny's in the building every Monday and Tuesday. UM,
he sees the ingredients of the hot dog, if you will.
He he knows what we're intending to get done schematically
from a game planning standpoint, because he is very much
a part of the process, and anyone that's very much
(08:39):
a part of a process is entitled to an opinion.
We get stoppages and play, we bounced things around, we're
talking to coaches on the sideline, coaches and the booth
players on the field. It's it's very fluid, and it
happens extremely fast, and I think sometimes discussions like that
get overblown and people want to make a story out
of something that is very routine and very natural. And
(09:00):
I'm just being bluntly honest with you. So it works,
it's great. But if it doesn't, then the next time
he comes to you with an idea, do you when
I stand in front of the media, it's mine. Um,
in the back of my mind, his opinion ways less
if it's unsuccessful. Certainly, before coming to Pittsburgh, you were
(09:22):
the defensive coordinator in Minnesota and the Vikings always played
home and home series with the Chicago Bears. Even though
you were not directly involved with special teams, you got
any horror stories about Devin Huster? Are you kidding me? Yes?
Two thousand and six, Man all week, Um, we talked
about kicking the ball out of bounds, even if it
(09:42):
was at a thirty to thirty five yard net. We
just wasn't gonna let him to be the difference in
the game. Um. We lost that game to the Bears
seventeen fourteen and probably about midway or the fourth we
were putting. We put the ball in the middle of
the field, like we talked about all week that we
wouldn't do, and in a great player sort of way,
(10:02):
he delivered. And I just think that that's that's a
measuring stick of a legendary player, of a generational player,
of a guy as gold jacket worthy. Um, you talk
about them all week, you see him coming, you put
together a schematic plan to minimize his impact on the game.
You check all of those boxes. But if you're in
(10:24):
any way negligent, they make you pay. And that guy
made us pay that day. Um, we were playing those guys.
They pick six to four score. Ricky Manning had an
interception for a score and he ran that punt back.
And as a defensive coordinator, when you gotta pick six
four score and a punt return for a score and
you lose seventeen fourteen, you remember those days, um. Today,
(10:46):
the special Teams challenge for the Steelers comes from cor
Darrell Patterson. Uh In his ten NFL seasons, he has
at least one one plus yard kickoff return in six
of them. What makes him so consist slantly dynamic as
a cookoff returner. He's Josh cribs Uh. He's very similar
those of us that have been in the North, remember
(11:07):
Josh cribs Um. He's fearless, he's big, he's strong, He
long strides um to the point of confrontation. He bumper
cars off the tackles, and then he has the finishes talent,
meaning that boy, if he bump our cars off of something,
he can quickly get back to speed and and finish
over the course of long distances. Some guys are quick, um,
(11:31):
but may not be fast. Those guys are quality return
punt returners, the quality dynamic kickoff returners. They have long
speed and I think that's something that Patterson has is
very similar to cribs and Devin hester Um. You know,
there have been some great punt returners that doesn't necessarily
translate the kick return and it's usually because of long
(11:53):
or finishing speed. And that's a trait that Patterson has
that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention. Boy, he
can get in the epic, he can bounce off a tackle,
but when he comes out of it, he's getting back
to speed and that's scary thinking. In the a f
C North, you have to deal with Lamar Jackson twice
a year than lately there have been regular games against Buffalo,
(12:13):
which means dealing with Josh Allen. In terms of running quarterbacks.
How does Marcus Mariotta compared to those guys you know
and now justin fields? Um, I just think that the
conversation about quarterback mobility is becoming more routine. Um, even
in the last number of years. Think about how much
has changed since Lamar has been in the league. Man
(12:34):
just a short period ago, when Lamar was young and
first start playing for Joe Man, it was a unique thing. Um,
But boy, it's it's a lot of quarterback mobility now,
um hurts. I mean, it's it's it's probably any quarterback
in his mid twenties or younger. It's probably half of
them have the type of mobility that merits schematic adjustment,
(12:56):
and so it's becoming more routine in today's game. That's
the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe in, 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 Steeler's mobile app, the i Heart
radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts,
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