In the process of responding to criticism from Terry Bradshaw, Mike Tomlin placed Bill Belichick in a class of his own among NFL head coaches.
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"He's a nice coach," Bradshaw said of Tomlin on Fox Sports 1 last week. "To me, I've said this, he's really a great cheerleader guy. I don't know what he does. I don't think he is a great coach at all. His name never even pops up in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL."
The Steelers coach took the opportunity to reply to Bradshaw's criticism on Tuesday, using one of his competitors in the AFC as a point of reference.
"The term 'great' -- that's something I have a great deal of respect for," Tomlin told reporters. "I certainly don't think that my resume to this point reads as great. But very few coaches' resumes read as that at this point. Guys like Bill in New England probably can say that. [Gregg Popovich] down in San Antonio. I think the rest of us are just working stiffs, to be quite honest with you."