New Coach

Yesterday (January 22), the Pittsburgh Steelers officially introduced their new coach: Mike Tomlin, who most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.

Welcome, Coach Tomlin!

As I watched the press conference online, I was struck by how Art Rooney II, Steelers President, introduced Tomlin. He did not say a whole lot about his football prowess, instead he told the group of reporters gathered that Mike Tomlin is a good person. He is the kind of person whom the Steelers look for in terms of coaches and players.

As a Bill Cowher fan, this change will take me some time to adapt to, but I trust the Rooneys (owners of the Steelers) in this decision. This is only the third coach in 38 years for the Steelers -- that's a pretty good track record. The Roman Catholic Church changes popes more than the Steelers change coaches.

Tomlin is the first ever black head coach of the Steelers. Congratulations! But I do not think Tomlin was hired because of his race. I think the Rooneys hired him because they truly feel he is the best man for the job.

One more note: thank you Coach Tomlin for retaining our defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. He is arguably the greatest defensive coordinator in the history of the NFL (invented the 3-4 zone blitz schemes), and is a class act.