Mike Tomlin spent 19 seasons coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers and faced a fair share of highs and lows. Throughout his tenure, Tomlin’s coaching abilities were often scrutinized, with critics labeling his strategies as somewhat predictable. Recently, franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sparked an even deeper conversation, highlighting a significant concern: the misutilization of players under Tomlin’s leadership.

“You knew TJ Watt does not want to drop into coverage,” said Roethlisberger on his podcast, Footbahlin. “Why is he dropping in to cover anybody that’s not his? Can he do it? Sure. But that’s not his forte. Get him to the quarterback. You got to say the right things. But like, and I’m not, I’m just using that as an example. Maybe there are other guys, maybe a corner doesn’t want to play man or zone as much or doesn’t like doing, I don’t know what it is. But to answer your question, my excitement would come from the player’s excitement.

Like when a player is like, “Man, I’m excited about this coach coming in. He brought these new thoughts on the pass game, or these new run games, or this new scheme.” You’re like, excited about it. That’s something to get excited about as a fan watching.”

Ben Roethlisberger played 15 seasons of his NFL career under Mike Tomlin and has seen firsthand how the former coach trained players at the Steelers. Hence, Roethlisberger’s assessment isn’t hard to overlook.

The former Steelers coach had a very strict approach to his training. Rather than adapting schemes to fit a player’s natural skill set, Tomlin operated on a rigid sink-or-swim philosophy. And this wasn’t just an assessment. Former Steelers player Kevin Doston recently spoke about the strict ways that were used for training players in Pittsburgh.

“If they tell you to play some position, you’ve got to play it. They don’t really care if you’ve never played it before. They pay you to do a job. And you got to do the job,” said former Steelers guard Kevin Dotson on NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov.

Roethlisberger particularly focused on how Steelers veteran TJ Watt, who is currently signed with a $123 million deal, was misused. Watt reportedly played over 94% of his defensive snaps strictly at left outside linebacker, and it became very predictable for the opponents to make plans against the linebacker. This particular issue was also raised by former Patriots WR Julian Edelman, from an opponent’s perspective.

“They still do the same G—– s— [as] when I was playing Tomlin’s defense,” said Edelman on the Games With Names podcast in January 2025. “I’m like, ‘We still have linebackers covering the three slot?’ Every time we play the Steelers, I have at least nine catches. You would think that they would change it, but no, they do what they do.”

However, in the case of Watt, the veteran LB contradicted the generic assessment. He noted that it was his stubbornness and hesitance to take a flexible role in Tomlin’s defense.

As things stand, the Steelers may not have to worry much about predictability for their games moving forward. After Tomlin’s departure earlier this year, the team hired Mike McCarthy as his replacement, who is already implementing new strategies in Pittsburgh.

New coaching staff sparks light among the Steelers as TJ Watt highlights differences

Right from his appointment, the Super Bowl XLV-winning coach, along with defense coordinator Patrick Graham, has implemented major positional changes. For example, TJ Watt is given a more flexible role in the defensive line and is confident about the changes.

“I think this new system allows a lot of this to be built in. So, I really can’t say no. I have to move with it. A lot of us are interchanging the parts,” said Watt in a media scrum. “You’re not just learning your position. You kind of have to learn the whole defensive front structure. We all basically interchange when we do different things. So, I think you’re going to see a lot more movement out of not just me, but the whole front.”

Watt further highlighted the key differences between Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy. Tomlin took an old-school approach, while McCarthy heavily integrates analytical data into his daily assessment routines.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Watt added. “It’s been a lot of studying. A lot of learning is happening on the iPads. Also trying to see the new faces, not only players and coaches. There’s been a lot of really good work. As you guys can see, practices are a little bit different around here. You don’t see benches out here anymore. It’s just interesting. There are two ways it’s going to catch. There are many different ways to do things. Things much different than what I’ve been used to over the last years. It’s good. Change is good for me.”

Watt and the Steelers players have seemingly moved ahead of Tomlin’s coaching book and are invested in McCarthy’s new training system. However, only time will tell what the results from these changes will look like for the Steelers.