For a young coach who has run off a few veteran mentors, it’s good to know Mike Tomlin still has a sounding board in town.
While visiting the Pirates’ spring training camp in Florida, the Steelers boss talked about his relationship with Pirates manager Clint Hurdle.
“It’s good to have a coaching brother,” Tomlin said of Hurdle, via Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He’s a guy who’s right-minded. We share a lot of philosophical thoughts on how to lead men. It’s been fun to watch him develop these groups over the years, and I’m excited to watch him do it again this year.”
Hurdle said the two discuss every aspect of the coaching business, including building relationships with players and coaches. That’s particularly interesting since the Steelers farmed out longtime defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau this offseason (sending him out to pasture in Tennessee). It’s not completely unlike when Tomlin pushed out an offensive coordinator he thought was too old, who has won a couple of coach of the year awards since (Bruce Arians).
Hurdle said he and Tomlin discussed the LeBeau situation specifically.
“Mike said, ‘Man, it’s hard, but you have to do it. I miss him every day,’ ” Hurdle said. “We talk about different challenges that we have in leadership positions. It’s great that he’ll listen and he reaches out to me. I really like the opportunity to pick up the phone every now and then and say, ‘Hey, have you ever dealt with this?’ ”
The Steelers had Keith Butler waiting in the wings, and there might never have been a good time for the organization to move away from LeBeau. So it’s good to know that Tomlin’s at least talking it over with someone.
