NFL Insiders Rank the Coaches

[Steelknife]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/ ... ches-tiers

Tier 1

Belichick
Carroll
Payton

Tier 2
Andy Reid
Tom Coughlin
T-6 Mike McCarthy
T-6 Mike Tomlin
Jim Harbaugh
John Harbaugh
John Fox
Jeff Fisher
Chip Kelly
Bruce Arians
Lovie Smith
Marvin Lewis

Tier 3
Chuck Pagano
...

Won't give away whole list. But here is what is said about Tomlin:

The Steelers haven't been as good lately and Tomlin will never be seen as a schematic guru while Dick LeBeau runs the defense, but he is held in extremely high regard for the way he has gone about the job under some tricky circumstances. "Loyalty in that organization is probably one of their greatest strengths, if not in all of football," a former head coach said. "He took a really nice team and took it to another level, and as the team aged on him and they really didn't replenish, he hasn't blinked. He has hung in there and I think they are going to be very good again. I think he has developed the young guys quickly and I think he has stood his ground on, 'Here is what the organization believes -- loyalty, loyalty, loyalty,' and I think he has done a great job of adopting that."

A former Steelers assistant said Tomlin, who came up in the Tampa 2 defensive system, showed "amazing self-control" by never once pushing his own defensive agenda onto LeBeau, a holdover from Bill Cowher's staff. The Steelers also reportedly forced Tomlin to replace offensive coordinator Bruce Arians with Todd Haley. "For me, a definite '1' is Mike Tomlin," an offensive assistant coach said. "He has [the team's] attention, he can speak every language in the locker room, he is extremely accountable, he understands tradition at the place he is at -- he is one with his building. He has enthusiasm and energy that bleeds into everyone in the organization. They hired a coordinator he did not put his stamp on; but Haley is a good football coach, so Tomlin rolls with it. New offensive line coach, he rolls with it. He just keeps rolling."

A former GM credited Tomlin for "somehow keeping it all together" through tumultuous times. "They were 2-6 last year and finished 8-8 -- that is what a good coach does," this ex-GM said. An executive credited Tomlin and some of the other higher-ranked coaches for raising expectations to the point that "the sky is falling" if their teams have a .500 season.

[V DUB]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11408205/ranking-32-nfl-head-coaches-tiers

Tier 1

Belichick
Carroll
Payton

Tier 2
Andy Reid
Tom Coughlin
T-6 Mike McCarthy
T-6 Mike Tomlin
Jim Harbaugh
John Harbaugh
John Fox
Jeff Fisher
Chip Kelly
Bruce Arians
Lovie Smith
Marvin Lewis

Tier 3
Chuck Pagano
...

Won't give away whole list. But here is what is said about Tomlin:

The Steelers haven't been as good lately and Tomlin will never be seen as a schematic guru while Dick LeBeau runs the defense, but he is held in extremely high regard for the way he has gone about the job under some tricky circumstances. "Loyalty in that organization is probably one of their greatest strengths, if not in all of football," a former head coach said. "He took a really nice team and took it to another level, and as the team aged on him and they really didn't replenish, he hasn't blinked. He has hung in there and I think they are going to be very good again. I think he has developed the young guys quickly and I think he has stood his ground on, 'Here is what the organization believes -- loyalty, loyalty, loyalty,' and I think he has done a great job of adopting that."

A former Steelers assistant said Tomlin, who came up in the Tampa 2 defensive system, showed "amazing self-control" by never once pushing his own defensive agenda onto LeBeau, a holdover from Bill Cowher's staff. The Steelers also reportedly forced Tomlin to replace offensive coordinator Bruce Arians with Todd Haley. "For me, a definite '1' is Mike Tomlin," an offensive assistant coach said. "He has [the team's] attention, he can speak every language in the locker room, he is extremely accountable, he understands tradition at the place he is at -- he is one with his building. He has enthusiasm and energy that bleeds into everyone in the organization. They hired a coordinator he did not put his stamp on; but Haley is a good football coach, so Tomlin rolls with it. New offensive line coach, he rolls with it. He just keeps rolling."

A former GM credited Tomlin for "somehow keeping it all together" through tumultuous times. "They were 2-6 last year and finished 8-8 -- that is what a good coach does," this ex-GM said. An executive credited Tomlin and some of the other higher-ranked coaches for raising expectations to the point that "the sky is falling" if their teams have a .500 season.

Say Whaaaaaaat!??!

Anyone that reads this board know's this simply isn't true.

[Legacy User]

I'd rank Andy Reid below Tomlin and McCarthy, personally.

An executive credited Tomlin and some of the other higher-ranked coaches for raising expectations to the point that "the sky is falling" if their teams have a .500 season.

[Orangesteel]

When you have a HoF quarterback in his prime and you handcuff him with a disease called Haleyball, then yes, 8-8 is total bullshit.

And I'm not saying the steelers are infallible and won't lose games; but to think that we finished 8-8 last year after solidly pissing away 3-5 games because of dumb mistakes and stupid decisions, then I'll say again 8-8 is total bullshit.

[Legacy User]

When you have a HoF quarterback in his prime and you handcuff him with a disease called Haleyball, then yes, 8-8 is total bullshit.

And I'm not saying the steelers are infallible and won't lose games; but to think that we finished 8-8 last year after solidly pissing away 3-5 games because of dumb mistakes and stupid decisions, then I'll say again 8-8 is total bullshit.

The insiders basically said Haley was forced on Tomlin against his will.

[Steelknife]

When you have a HoF quarterback in his prime and you handcuff him with a disease called Haleyball, then yes, 8-8 is total bullshit.

And I'm not saying the steelers are infallible and won't lose games; but to think that we finished 8-8 last year after solidly pissing away 3-5 games because of dumb mistakes and stupid decisions, then I'll say again 8-8 is total bullshit.

Dude, our roster just wasn't (isn't?) that talented.

We have a great QB.
We have a great WR.

We were (are?) average to below average at every single other position, offense or defense. We need to acknowledge and accept that. Potential != immediate performance.

Not interested in rehashing the Haley vs Arians debate in this thread.

[Legacy User]

So the reason why Tomlin is the 6th best coach in the NFL is "he's keeping the boat from (totally) sinking"?

Seems to make sense.

[Orangesteel]

When you have a HoF quarterback in his prime and you handcuff him with a disease called Haleyball, then yes, 8-8 is total bullshit.

And I'm not saying the steelers are infallible and won't lose games; but to think that we finished 8-8 last year after solidly pissing away 3-5 games because of dumb mistakes and stupid decisions, then I'll say again 8-8 is total bullshit.

The insiders basically said Haley was forced on Tomlin against his will.

Well maybe that is a knock on him, then. I remember last season there were a few on here saying Tomlin would show them a lot if he walked into Rooney's office and argued for permission to dismiss Haley. I get it, he's "Cool Mike" and he's respected. I give credence to that. But even the insiders recognize he inherited a legendary football team and had success. Lately, not so much. The standard is the standard. Win 10 games, please.

[Steelknife]

So the reason why Tomlin is the 6th best coach in the NFL is "he's keeping the boat from (totally) sinking"?

Seems to make sense.

I think that's a fair praise for a coach when they take over an aging team and, in rebuilding it, sink to a low(?) of 8-8.

[Orangesteel]

So the reason why Tomlin is the 6th best coach in the NFL is "he's keeping the boat from (totally) sinking"?

Seems to make sense.

I think that's a fair praise for a coach when they take over an aging team and, in rebuilding it, sink to a low(?) of 8-8.

But we were pretty much in every single game last year, Knife. The only games we were overwhelmed in were Chicago and NE. We turn two of those games around and we are winning the division. Mistakes and decisions hurt this team as much as "lack of talent" did.

[Legacy User]

So according to that, Tomlin didn't fire Arians or hire Haley. Interesting.