Mike Tomlin hung up his coaching whistle after a long, winning run with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, he manages to catch strays even today. Perhaps the former head coach’s tenure was not all that high and mighty as we often deemed it.

“My biggest cause for optimism with the Steelers is everybody says, and I think it’s even visible from a distance, that this is a much better coaching staff from McCarthy on down, and I tend to very much believe that,” Mark Madden said on 105.9 on The X. “I thought Tomlin was a fraud for a decade, and I thought all his assistants were yes-men and cheapos.”

In January this year, Madden sparked quite the debate by writing this on TribLive:

“I don’t think Tomlin was ever a good coach. I think he was a fraud who drenched his shortcomings in word salad that was gobbled up by a national media that sadly lapsed into long-term fealty.”

This was one of many drawbacks he pointed out in Tomlin’s 19-season reign over the team.

Tomlin has never had a losing season. But there has always been something that’s held the team back from achieving the great run it had in the yesteryears during his tenure.

In February, Mark Kaboly appeared on 93.7 The Fan and shared something he’d picked up through a source. Tomlin’s philosophy on building a staff was fairly straightforward. He’d bring someone in to fill a role, and that was essentially where it ended. Current head coach Mike McCarthy, by comparison, seems to operate with a lot more intention behind the scenes.

In the TribLive piece, Madden also alleged that Tomlin wanted yes-men, not coaches who’d push back or add their own ideas. He parted ways with a defensive genius like Dick LeBeau, who made the Steelers known as ‘Blitzburgh’ in the 90s. And in Tomlin’s system, former defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was regarded by many as just a stand-in, while the former head coach called the plays.

This practice was admitted by Austin’s predecessor, Keith Butler.

“The last couple of years with Dick LeBeau, Mike was calling the plays, too,” he said on 93.7 The Fan. “It’s something he wanted to do. It’s something he had done. He wanted to do that here, and as the head coach, he should be able to do what he wants to do.”

And that might go a long way toward explaining why Tomlin’s coaching tree looks so surprisingly thin. Despite leading the franchise for nearly two decades, there aren’t many names from his staff that have gone on to make a real mark elsewhere. Harold Goodwin and Scottie Montgomery come the closest, but they’ve been away from Pittsburgh for well over a decade now.

Mike McCarthy, however, brings in two great assistants to handle both sides of the ball. Offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio reunited with the head coach after a stint at Green Bay and is a first-time OC. On defense, McCarthy has given a shot to Patrick Graham, who is looking for redemption after a troubling few years with the Las Vegas Raiders.

The defense, which was a low point for the Steelers last year, seems to be on the mend under Graham’s leadership.

“You go to Pittsburgh, and I just have a lot of inherent faith that he’s gonna do a good job there,” Robert Mays said on The Athletic Football Show. ” … I’m feeling good about the Patrick Graham experience coming out of this and what it might look in Pittsburgh.”