Great coaches vs. good coaches: Mike Tomlin needs to take a lesson about life from Chuck Noll
… Thin-skinned vs. thick-skinned
One thing that I admired about Chuck Noll was that he could have blown his own horn much more than he did. He could have written his own autobiography and told his story, a tale about what a great guy he was.
Chuck declined to do so. Let the professional writers tell his story. Let the players take the credit for a win, do the post-game interviews. Let the players get the publicity, not the coach.
Noll had a ego, but he was a laid-back guy, a person who would rather sit down with his wife Marianne and have a nice glass of wine than party on Bourbon Street.
After Noll's first Super Bowl interview in 1975, the media was outraged, according to a Sports Illustrated story about Noll written by Paul Zimmerman. In it, Zimmerman said, "And when it was over, the writers were a little uneasy, because underneath the intelligence and the articulateness was the hint of something unsettling. The curled lip? A bit of disdain? Is this man really telling us we’re a bunch of dumb bunnies who are wasting his time?"
So, Noll became a marked man in the eyes of the media. They looked upon him with disdain. They would not vote for him as Coach of the Year despite four Super Bowls.
Chuck Noll was right about the media
The truth is that Noll was right with his approach. Who cares what writers think? Most never played the game and, even worse, many hardly understand it though they consider themselves experts.
However, Zimmerman pointed out something that current Steeler Coach Mike Tomlin should note: Noll was basically a shy man, a humble man, someone who was not comfortable in the role as spokesman. “It’s just my nature,” he says. “I’ve always been that way. I’ve always avoided publicity. I’ve never been good copy at any stage of my life. I don’t strive for it, because I don’t think it’s important whether I’m good copy or not. The two can go together, if that’s your personality, but every person on this earth is unique. I’ve never tried to pattern myself after anybody. You have to be what you are, and this is what I am.”
Zimmerman pointed out that the media fawned over Vince Lombardi and Paul Brown, despite both hating them. They were, however, charismatic and quotable, something Noll was not.
Tomlin should have ignored Bradshaw
If a writer had called Noll a "good coach, but not a great coach," as Noll's former QB Terry Bradshaw, a Fox analyst, did, Noll would probably not have responded to the criticism. That was Chuck.
Instead, Tomlin cited one part of the analysis, that Bradshaw called him a "cheerleader," and called that "unprofessional."
It probably was unprofessional -- though I think that he misunderstood what Bradshaw was saying. Bradshaw was not saying that Tomlin should be wearing a skirt and making inane cheers, as those women on the sideline do.
Bradshaw was probably not saying that Tomlin was not a professional athlete himself and did not understand what that was like -- hence the weak discipline.
Instead, the QB turned media personality seemed to be saying that Tomlin was a guy who cheered on his team on the sideline very well, though his actual coaching was suspect.
Many Steeler fans and even writers and analysts in the media have made such an analysis, albeit using different verbiage. Many have questioned Tomlin's clock management, his aloofness on the sideline such as when he wandered onto the field and prevented a Ravens' kickoff returner from reaching the end zone.
The more searing part of Bradshaw's analysis was that he was not a great coach. The Hall of Fame QB was saying that his coaching skills were not superb.
That should have hurt more than the cheerleader comment would have, but Tomlin was hurt by the "cheerleader" reference.
Thick skin
Chuck Noll would have ignored such a comment because he was "thick-skinned." Tomlin has always had a thin skin, and this has nothing to do with race. Tomlin is more sensitive of criticism than Noll was.
Zimmerman's 1980 story about Noll quotes former New York Giants General Manager George Young, who knew Noll when the Steelers mentor was an assistant coach to Don Shula. Young said that Noll is “a head coach who has learned to control his ego better than anyone in the game. He’s like a great Harvard professor who keeps turning out Rhodes scholars and yet doesn’t want to do anything but teach, doesn’t want to be a dean or a department head. He’s happy where he is. I have seen less of a change in him as a person, since he was an assistant at Baltimore, than anyone else in such a high position.”
In essence, Chuck Noll knew who he was. Mike Tomlin is still searching for that self-knowldge and is sensitive about it.
The lesson for Tomlin
That is what Tomlin should have learned from the Bradshaw comments. The Steeler coach should listen to his wife since women often know themselves better than men, and he should try to accept who he is and appreciate what he has accomplished.
Here is what Noll's wife Marianne said about her husband: He is “a very, very private person. I read some of the things written about him, and I say, 'No, no, he’s not like that at all. He’s ... well, he’s just Chuck.’ Sometimes I almost wish that he’d seek publicity, that he’d open up, so people could understand what he’s done. But then he wouldn’t be Chuck. He wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with and married. He’s got a very sturdy ego, but as for vanity ... absolutely none.”
The truth is that Noll was right with his approach. Who cares what writers think? Most never played the game and, even worse, many hardly understand it though they consider themselves experts.
However, Zimmerman pointed out something that current Steeler Coach Mike Tomlin should note: Noll was basically a shy man, a humble man, someone who was not comfortable in the role as spokesman. “It’s just my nature,” he says. “I’ve always been that way. I’ve always avoided publicity. I’ve never been good copy at any stage of my life. I don’t strive for it, because I don’t think it’s important whether I’m good copy or not. The two can go together, if that’s your personality, but every person on this earth is unique. I’ve never tried to pattern myself after anybody. You have to be what you are, and this is what I am.”
Zimmerman pointed out that the media fawned over Vince Lombardi and Paul Brown, despite both hating them. They were, however, charismatic and quotable, something Noll was not.
Tomlin should have ignored Bradshaw
If a writer had called Noll a "good coach, but not a great coach," as Noll's former QB Terry Bradshaw, a Fox analyst, did, Noll would probably not have responded to the criticism. That was Chuck.
Instead, Tomlin cited one part of the analysis, that Bradshaw called him a "cheerleader," and called that "unprofessional."
It probably was unprofessional -- though I think that he misunderstood what Bradshaw was saying. Bradshaw was not saying that Tomlin should be wearing a skirt and making inane cheers, as those women on the sideline do.
Bradshaw was probably not saying that Tomlin was not a professional athlete himself and did not understand what that was like -- hence the weak discipline.
Instead, the QB turned media personality seemed to be saying that Tomlin was a guy who cheered on his team on the sideline very well, though his actual coaching was suspect.
Many Steeler fans and even writers and analysts in the media have made such an analysis, albeit using different verbiage. Many have questioned Tomlin's clock management, his aloofness on the sideline such as when he wandered onto the field and prevented a Ravens' kickoff returner from reaching the end zone.
The more searing part of Bradshaw's analysis was that he was not a great coach. The Hall of Fame QB was saying that his coaching skills were not superb.
That should have hurt more than the cheerleader comment would have, but Tomlin was hurt by the "cheerleader" reference.
Thick skin
Chuck Noll would have ignored such a comment because he was "thick-skinned." Tomlin has always had a thin skin, and this has nothing to do with race. Tomlin is more sensitive of criticism than Noll was.
Zimmerman's 1980 story about Noll quotes former New York Giants General Manager George Young, who knew Noll when the Steelers mentor was an assistant coach to Don Shula. Young said that Noll is “a head coach who has learned to control his ego better than anyone in the game. He’s like a great Harvard professor who keeps turning out Rhodes scholars and yet doesn’t want to do anything but teach, doesn’t want to be a dean or a department head. He’s happy where he is. I have seen less of a change in him as a person, since he was an assistant at Baltimore, than anyone else in such a high position.”
In essence, Chuck Noll knew who he was. Mike Tomlin is still searching for that self-knowldge and is sensitive about it.
The lesson for Tomlin
That is what Tomlin should have learned from the Bradshaw comments. The Steeler coach should listen to his wife since women often know themselves better than men, and he should try to accept who he is and appreciate what he has accomplished.
Here is what Noll's wife Marianne said about her husband: He is “a very, very private person. I read some of the things written about him, and I say, 'No, no, he’s not like that at all. He’s ... well, he’s just Chuck.’ Sometimes I almost wish that he’d seek publicity, that he’d open up, so people could understand what he’s done. But then he wouldn’t be Chuck. He wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with and married. He’s got a very sturdy ego, but as for vanity ... absolutely none.”
Tomlin has time to become a great coach
Today, other than Bill Bellichick, no NFL coach is great. Great coaches are judged by their litany of work, and Chuck Noll was judged by his four Super Bowls in six years. Belllichick has not won as many in a short time, but he has won them over time.
Tomlin has time to make his case for greatness. If he were to win the Super Bowl this year, then he could make a case for greatness, taking a marginal team to greatness. That is unlikely to happen, but stranger things have. The best team does not always win the Super Bowl.
Still, Tomlin should sit down after the season and read some of Noll's biographies. That would show him what humility can do for a man. That would show a man who was as proud of being allowed to direct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as he was of his Super Bowl wins. A man who worked to sit down every night with his wife at 7 p.m. so that they could have supper together. A man who could ignore the slings and arrows aimed by a media who have no clue.
Then, he may truly understand greatness.
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