In front of a microphone, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin perpetually lives in the here and now, not thinking about tomorrow. If you ask him a question that has anything to do with the future, he’ll likely claim he hasn’t thought about it—even though he undoubtedly has. As far as the outside world is concerned, the focus is as narrow as a pinhole.
So even though he speaks glowingly at times, he is tempering any outside attempt to gauge the internal temperature. Tomlin might be downright giddy about the potential of his new secondary, but he knows they haven’t done anything yet.
Asked about his sense of the Steelers’ confidence right now, Tomlin said, “I don’t know that I’m looking to measure that, to be quite honest with you’, via the team’s website. “You can develop false confidence in August, you know. Those things become real in September”.
Tomlin did, of course, talk about the defense’s potential to do historic things. But both defenders and even offensive players think very highly of what the Steelers are building on defense. Then again, most people are probably pretty high on their teams in late July and early August.
While we haven’t actually seen the most exciting additions this year, that in itself presumably speaks to the unspoken confidence Mike Tomlin actually has. There’s a reason we haven’t seen Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay. He already knows what they can do, and the preseason won’t tell him anything new about them.
At least, that’s the most plausible explanation for someone who always talks about not living in your fears. If Tomlin is not playing his starters, it’s not due to fear of injury, but confidence in what they can do. After all, he has played all of his young starting offensive linemen, who need the work. The other guys are all established Pro Bowlers deep into their careers—as is Jonnu Smith.
Ultimately, though, what does Mike Tomlin stand to gain by telling reporters about how confident the Steelers might be in themselves, or how confident he is in them, in the middle of August? How does that benefit their mission by putting that out there?
At least Tomlin claims to have had a reason when he talked about the defense’s historic potential. In that comment, he was addressing the outside expectations that exist for the Steelers, acknowledging what’s out there. That won’t stop anybody from putting a target on their backs for it, if they so choose.
Still, Tomlin’s players have already spoken for him—or at least for themselves and the team. The Steelers believe in what they’ve built, to an even greater degree than I imagine is typical in a locker room. When you have people like Metcalf and Ramsey talking about this being different than any other team they’ve been a part of, the expectations will grow. They’re confident. I’m sure Tomlin’s confident, too. But it serves no purpose to say it.
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