Editorial: Mike Tomlin should punt the pettiness and petulance

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin answers questions during a news conference after losing to the Buffalo Bills in a wild-card playoff game Monday in Buffalo, N.Y.

A coach is someone who gives instruction. Coaches train. They teach. They help make people better.

The simple arithmetic of wins and losses shows the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin is a good coach. He joined the organization in 2007. In that time, he has amassed two Super Bowl appearances with one win. He has never had a losing season during his entire stint in Pittsburgh.

Overall, he has a winning record — except for the playoffs. The playoffs are a different animal, and Tomlin has an 8-10 postseason record. His teams have failed to qualify for the playoffs six times. Six times his teams made wild-card appearances that ended in that first round. The last postseason win came in January 2017. That’s a seven-year drought.

So he really shouldn’t have been surprised when the question was posed during the news conference following yet another playoff loss Monday.

“Mike, you have a year left on your contract …”

Tomlin turned to his left and walked away from the podium.

It was a great moment for social media, which immediately turned it in to the latest laughable meme. It was, no doubt, a hard moment for Tomlin personally. No one wants to have their bad days at work up for autopsy on television, but that’s the game Tomlin decided to play.

Football is a game of inches and yards, wins and losses. It’s also an issue of investment for the city and county, which own the stadium. Both of those make the performance of anyone in the Steelers organization a matter of public interest.

As a coach, there is an expectation of guiding players — on the field and off. A reluctance to answer reasonable questions is not behavior to emulate. Being petty and petulant when representing your employer isn’t either.

The Steelers have had their struggles with players on the public stage. Pro sports teams are perpetually rebuilding as players retire and new players are signed. There are always new Steelers to shape and guide, even on the last day of the season as the lockers are cleaned out and goodbyes are said until spring workouts.

Tomlin has a year left on his contract. He says he will be back. The Rooneys being the owners they are, it is possible he could sign a new contract.

But while he’s working on plans for offense and defense on the field, Tomlin needs to work on how to be a model of good sportsmanship and fair play in front of the microphone, too.