Former Steelers Linebacker Gets Very Critical Of Mike Tomlin's "Unhealthy Attachment"

Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers had a coaching change, some rough takes have come out about the previous regime. There is no question that former Head Coach Mike Tomlin was a great leader that was beloved by everyone in the organization. However, his way of operating multiple parts of the team has come under fire in recent months. He will go to the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments, and he completely deserves it. At the same time, change is desperately needed sometimes, and it felt like it was best for both parties to go their separate ways. 

Another former player recently came out and added on to the negative Tomlin press. Linebacker Vince Williams detailed an issue he had with his former head coach about how he ran the defense on a regular basis. 

Tomlin has been called out in recent years for being too stubborn with game plans and wanting to do things his way while not making necessary adjustments. This is yet another example of it; this just happened before the media and a massive chunk of the fan base turned on the head coach. 

He did a good job of keeping many of these issues from getting into the public, which helped limit distractions for a team that already had too many of those. 

In this case, Tomlin found something that worked well and stuck with it, which makes sense. The problem is that there are no perfect plays or schemes in the NFL; there is always a way to beat the opponents. The Steelers kept spamming this five-man pressure from the base 3-4 defense until someone found a way to beat it. 

Once the blueprint was revealed, other offensive coordinators started using it to beat Pittsburgh's defense. Numerous people compare football to a giant game of chess. Like that, the initial plan to win gets shut down quickly. 

The truly great coaches can adjust on the fly and pivot to any backup plan or come up with a new one to counter the opponent's plan. Tomlin wouldn't just refuse to adjust mid-game, but he wouldn't even adjust his gameplan from week to week, according to what Williams just said. 

Steelers' New Defense Is Built To Do Everything Tomlin Wouldn't

It eventually became public knowledge that Tomlin was incredibly stubborn with how he ran things. Meanwhile, all reports coming out about new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham have been about how he is the exact opposite. 

His calling card is the fact that he doesn't just have one scheme in mind. He thrives off of figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of his unit and building a plan off of that with the ability to adjust when needed. 

With all the talent on Pittsburgh's defense, there is no reason why it should have been one of the worst units in the NFL in 2025. Meanwhile, Graham has taken defenses that have very little talent and made them play better than expected. He has revived a few careers with his way of running the show, and there are many talented Steelers that could use a little revival of their own.

So many of the issues that were coming out on a weekly basis in previous years will likely not happen again. The players have vocalized exactly what they want for a couple years now. While Tomlin did not want to do what they asked for, Graham is more than excited to work around their desires and what they believe they need. That should mean that the constant miscommunication issues should finally become a thing of the past.

What do you think about Williams calling out Tomlin's inability to make adjustments? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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