Week 15 vs. The Panthers

Steelers Digest Editor Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Week 15 matchup against the Carolina Panthers.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast with Steeler's Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach, let's deal with the elephant.
Who's your starting quarterback today? Mr? Biscue will start today.
So earlier in the week, you said that you were
gonna work both guys in practice, Uh, provided Kenny wasn't
cleared from the protocol, which is what ended up happening.

(00:21):
So what did you want to see during that work
week before you made your decision? You know, it's really
cut and dry. UM. I wanted to see Mitch's ability
to bounce back um from the last performance relative to
taking care of the ball UM, and he displayed that.
And I wanted to give Mason an opportunity to get
some live varsity office of reps, which he hadn't had

(00:43):
a lot of opportunities to do in this regular season,
to check his level of rustum, his ability to anticipate
his time in with those guys, and and and and
seemingly live action. I wanted to get a feel for Uh.
He did a good job in that regard. So on Tuesday,
during your news conference, when you were asked about your
defense and the loss of the Ravens. You referenced run

(01:05):
game schematics. What would be some general examples of run
game schematics. It's just the fronts and the defenses that
you choose to employ based on known run game issues.
You know, a lot of offenses have personality. The Baltimore
Ravens have personality, and that forty two their full back
and eighty four the tight end. The block and tight

(01:25):
end take you to the run game fight. And so
we we set defenses based on their location. For example,
we'll do similar things in this game. Um, they're tighty
and eighty carries you to a lot of run game fight,
and so we'll set defenses and make schematic calls based
on those things. And what I was referencing is not
just putting the outcome of our performance solely on on

(01:47):
the backs of the players. Man, we gotta what blocks
and make tackles, but we as coaches have got to
do a really good job of putting them in position
to do the above things. And and that's the schematic component.
When you refer to divisions of labor when it comes
to preparing for an opponent, what does that mean and
how detailed are the plans when it comes to executing
it in some instances is very detailed and some instances

(02:11):
depending on the level of skill per position required for
the task. Um, it's not anybody could do it. Uh.
Some routes a limited number of receivers in your receiving
corps and run because the skill set stop go route.
Some of the big guys you know don't do don't
do a very good job of that. For example, UM,
in in the running games, some certain perimeter runs are

(02:33):
for scatbacks and not downhill guys. And so if you
just look at it from that perspective, UM, their divisions
of labor within a group. Um, they're different body types
within a group. Uh. Some linebackers are our past situation
dime linebackers. Some guys are are downhill run defenders. And
so there's just the specialization in the game. And that's

(02:56):
what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about a division
of labor. Um, you're doing a good job when you
put guys in position to do what it is they
naturally do well per their position, and particularly in those
weighty moments. UM, things get more specialized the weighty or
at the moment situational ball possession downs. That's why you
see coverage nickels coming in versus slot receivers, uh, etcetera,

(03:18):
pass rush specialists that play exclusively UM on third down
or in two minutes, for example, on the defensive side.
It's just a lot of examples of specialization and most
of that occurs and situational ball. And that's what we
all talk about today when we talk about dividing the
labor up. So it doesn't necessarily mean snap cons like
you'd like to rotate defensive linemen. Sometimes t J. Watt

(03:40):
needs to blow, sometimes Highsmith needs to blow. That's not
the vision of labor, but it can be. But that's
just the component of the discussion. UM. The meat of
the discussion is putting guys in position to do what
it is they do best per concept. So if you're
talking about snap ouns and except for a guy who

(04:02):
looks at the sideline taps at home and you know
he wants to come out, who who's in charge of that?
Is that his position coach, the coordinator. You you may
have other position coaches, specifically my self coordinators. We've got
more global things going on during the course of the game.
Now we may dictate how that is managed during the

(04:22):
course of the week that is decided as a collective,
but the endgame management usually falls on the positional coach
if there is a specific snap count for whatever reason health, conditioning, age.
There there are a myrriad of reasons if you just
look in at division of labor from a snap count perspective,
but again, most of the time they're there are other

(04:42):
more meaty components of the discussion UH, like situations and
putting guys in position to do what it is they
do best. You called Baltimore's Calais Campbell the most significant
and accomplished kick blocker in our game today. How does
a field goal unit go about minimizing such a player?
Recognizing when you're in the kitchen um and doing what's

(05:03):
appropriate having urgency, They move them around depending on the
placement of the ball, ball in the middle, field ball
on the hash, etcetera. UM, depending on if somebody might
be a week but what's seemingly a week linked to
them from their perspective. UH. In schematics, there's a lot
of reasons why you move a dynamic guy like him around,
and so having to be to where he might be

(05:24):
is something that is difficult to manage. Because all of
those variables. And so one of the key things that
you can do is in game when you line up,
recognize where he is located, and those in his close
proximity feel the urgency of that. Another thing you said
was football is a legitimate humble man's game. What did
you mean by that? That's not often talked about enough.

(05:47):
Football players are viewed as you know, UM, alpha's combative people, competitors, etcetera.
But I think it's important that people realize, UM, that
it's a game for the humble. UM that you get
challenged in this game at this level, UM in really
unique ways. Man. Nobody wins all the time. You get

(06:07):
physically beat, you get intellectually beat from time to time,
meaning you get tricked. UM. There's a lot of things
that keep your feet on the ground in this game. UM.
And and and I just respect that component of it. UM.
The men that played this game, that have played this game,
respect that component of it. UM. It's like the combat
specialists in the m M A world. UM, there's an

(06:28):
honor in that competition, UM that maybe those that are
entertained by it don't fully understand the competitors do. UH.
And so there's a respect and humility there. One of
the traditions in the NFL is the postgame handshake between
opposing coaches. Uh. Is that something you do because it's
done after every game all over the league or is

(06:49):
it meaningful in some way? It's just something you do.
It can be meaningful just based on your personal relationship
with with whoever that opposing coaches, But most of the
time it's just ceremonial things that have been done and
you just showing respect to a mutual combatant. So you
go out there. Um, there's cameras all over the place.

(07:10):
I mean, it's not like it's a private moment or anything. Uh,
And it always seems like that there is a little
bit of conversation. What's usually the subject of the conversation. Again,
it depends on the nature of the relationship with the
two parties involved. But it's less so now than it
used to be because of obvious reasons. As you mentioned, Um,
there's just not a lot of moments of intimacy in

(07:31):
our business anymore. Um. Everything is made for television, your
boom mics and cameras everywhere you go, and if you
got a personal relationship with somebody, you just assume, send
him a text or give him a call um in
a more intimate setting, because unfortunately, Um, that component of
it has been lost in for entertainment value. In your
career in Pittsburgh, you've experienced the post game handshake. Probably

(07:53):
at the highest moment and the lowest moment. That would
be after winning a super Bowl and then after losing
a Super Bowl? What were those like? You don't remember either.
There's so much going on in those moments. That's what
I mean when I say it's it's somewhat ceremonial in
an environment like that, Um, the intensity of that environment
and things, there's so many other things going on that

(08:16):
I challenge you to find a coach that that that
remembers that moment or or the intimacies of what was
said or or what have you. You're swept up in
a carousel of things. If you're the winning coach and
you're trying to get off, get off that that playing service.
If if you're the losing coach, because that confetti raining
down is not for you. Okay, I got a rules

(08:36):
question for you. Uh, the offense is in the huddle,
the play clock is running with less than twenty seconds left,
on the play clock, the offense decides to substitute a
couple of players into the game. So then the defense
has given the opportunity to match those substitutions with its own.
How long is the defense given a match personnel. It's
it's up to the discretion of the officiating crew. Um.

(08:58):
They've given some lattitude there in terms of what is reasonable.
And so that's something that's continually massaged. You might have
defenses that are moving slow in that instance and trying
to challenge them from a play cloud perspective, but generally
the officials do a solid job of managing that. And
and it is a common sense judgment. I don't know

(09:19):
that any of us, you know, overthink that from a
strategic perspective, to be honest with you. Okay, so let's
flip it around and say the defense substitutes the players.
The defense is the one that initiates the substitution thing. Okay,
if your offense isn't interested in matching, can that just
run up to the line of scrimmage and snap the ball. Yeah,

(09:40):
the defense, uh, substitutes at his own risk. I think
it's the best way to describe it. The offense doesn't
have to match. They doesn't have to wait. The offense
is pace dictates what happens between plays, and that's just
the reality of it, not only in our league, but
at any level of play. The offenses paced dictates what transpires,
the amount of time that the defense gets a chance

(10:01):
to communicate, the amount of time or opportunity the defense
gets a chance to substitute or not um. All of
that's dictated by the pace, um and style of play
of the offense. So how how how much play clock
will the officials allowed to run down while standing over
the ball waiting for the Again, it's it's something that's

(10:23):
you know, not not discussed. It's something that's managed um
and it's a lot of that in our game. And
I know for discussion fither oftentimes people like it or
people hate it. But that's just the nuances of our game. Uh.
Lineman down field in the passing game is officiated by
the term a healthy yard. Well, what is a healthy yard?

(10:45):
It might be a yard to half for some cruise
or some individuals. It might be two yards for others
or two and a half. Um. There's a lot of
that in our game, and I think those of us
that are in the game, understand it and and respected
and teach it from an educational perspective, but it doesn't
necessarily create comfortable or fluid conversations UM in in lay

(11:07):
person settings. What makes Brian Burns the elite edge guy
he has become? And what what is his fourth NFL season?
He has an distinguishing trade and that his burst and
straight line speed is really unique and over the course
of his career, he's He's shaped out other aspects of
his game to highlight it. It's no different than baseball.

(11:28):
If somebody is capable of throwing a hundred miles an hour,
they're not gonna become a legitimate starting ace until they
play off of that unique traite. Uh, with the development
of their game. What I see from him as a
guy that has developed his game around a unique trade
and and that and that's what makes him formidable and
and doing the things that he see that we see

(11:49):
him doing today. What did you learn from uh? Uh?
What did you learn about Sam Donald during the pre
draft process? I don't know that I learned a lot. Um.
He went so early in the draft it went in
a serious consideration for us and oftentimes in an effort
to save time and focus my energies on who might
be in play for us. I do less than a

(12:11):
thorough job on those that I know that aren't going
to be in play for us. That's the Mike Tomlin
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