Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin may be among the most divisive people in the Pittsburgh sports scene. Some people view him as one of the best coaches in the game. After all, you don’t have the longest streak of non-losing seasons to start a head coaching career by accident. However, others point their fingers at him when discussing the Steelers’ lack of playoff success since 2016.
But one person you won’t hear badmouthing Tomlin? Steelers DT Cameron Heyward. He joined The Pivot Podcast for Friday’s episode, and he shared his thoughts on what makes Tomlin the coach to fix the Steelers’ issues. A big part of that is motivation.
“He finds ways to motivate guys in and out of every season,” Heyward said. “Because no season’s the same. And so, I think that’s what makes him so much better than every coach. He knows how to motivate players in and out. And it doesn’t have to be some great, big mantra speech. He can get it down to just an individual basis where it’s like, you’ve done this. Let’s see if you can hit this again.”
Heyward isn’t just saying that he’s seen Tomlin do that. He’s been the target of Tomlin’s motivation before, too. And it all went back to Heyward’s 2017 season where he posted 12 sacks, 16 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits. The 12 sacks and 16 tackles for a loss are still career-best numbers for him. And Tomlin isn’t above using that as motivation for Heyward.
“He’ll talk about in 2017 man, you were a monster, I don’t think you can get back to that,” Heyward said. “And I’m like, man, I’m not letting you do this to me, I’m not letting you put me into the… I know my ’18, ’19’, ’20, and ’21 weren’t that bad!”
It’s almost as if it’s a challenge to a player’s abilities. You did this once, but I don’t think you can do it again. Maybe that season was a fluke. And evidently, Tomlin doesn’t do it to embarrass players in front of others. He’s trying to get those players to tap back into what got them a big season, and he does it one-on-one.
Heyward proved his 2017 season, the one where Tomlin said he was a monster, wasn’t a fluke. After recovering fully from the injuries that plagued him in 2023, Heyward was back to his disruptive self in 2024. He finished with 71 total tackles, the fourth-highest number in his career. He also had eight sacks, 12 tackles for a loss, 20 quarterback hits, and a career-high 11 passes knocked down.
That definitely seems like Mike Tomlin’s motivation worked for Heyward in 2024. And he did all that after celebrating his 35th birthday before training camp even started. Part of it also is that Tomlin will always let you know what he wants.
“From the second I walked in, I never had to question what the message was or what he expected out of me,” Heyward said.
Is Mike Tomlin immune from criticism? Absolutely not. The offense has been mediocre at best, and at points downright awful since Ben Roethlisberger’s last years in Pittsburgh. As the head coach in charge of hiring the offensive coordinator and making big decisions about the quarterback position, Tomlin certainly has his fair share of responsibility.
But Cameron Heyward doesn’t appear to be lacking any sort of confidence in Mike Tomlin’s ability to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers. New CB Darius Slay shares in that confidence, too.
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