My last post covered the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

One thing I discussed was their long-standing policy of not negotiating new contracts during the season.   Another of their policies is to always give their head coach a new deal when he’s down to two years remaining on the current one.  If nothing else, this prevents any messy “lame duck” situations from occurring.  Well, guess what?

Mike Tomlin has two years remaining on his contract.

As of this writing, I have heard exactly zero rumblings about a contract extension.  Of course, there are still over three months until the start of the season.  And the Steelers could always use the fact that a coach is not a player as a loophole if they want to negotiate during the season.  Still, it’s an interesting situation with big repercussions for the future of this franchise.

Personally, I’m not sold on Tomlin.  “But he won a Super Bowl in only his second year!” is pretty much the sole argument for why he’s a great head coach.  That’s idiotic.   Know who else won a Super Bowl?

George Seifert and Barry Switzer.

Are either of them “brilliant” head coaches?   Switzer won a Super Bowl in his second season as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.  Seifert did both men one better by bringing home the Lombardi Trophy in his first season.   Switzer resigned only two years later and hasn’t been back in the NFL.   Seifert won a second Super Bowl a few years later before taking some time off.  He resurfaced to coach the Panthers in 1999.  He put up a 16-32 record, going 1-15 in his final year, with a team that would go on to make an appearance in the Super Bowl just two seasons later.

Were they great coaches?  Certainly not.  They were successful because they inherited a great team from a much more talented coach.  Switzer won with Jimmy Johnson‘s Cowboys.  Seifert won with Bill Walsh‘s 49ers.  They were handed the keys to a Ferrari and simply told not to crash it.   That’s a lot easier than building the Ferrari yourself.

Is Tomlin a Switzer?  At this point, I have to think the jury is still out.  The team he won Super Bowl XLIII with was undoubtedly Bill Cowher‘s team.  The nucleus of Hines, Ben, and Troy are all Cowher’s guys.   Defensive stalwarts like Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton are Cowher’s guys.  Key offensive players such as Max Starks and Heath Miller are Cowher’s guys.  Tomlin built nothing, he just basically rode the same team that won it all in 2005 to another title in 2008.

I think there are still some questions as to how good a coach he truly is.   His first season was an improvement over Cowher’s last but only by two games which is almost a given considering he didn’t have a brain damaged Roethlisberger behind center.  The Steelers were one-and-done in the playoffs that year which can partly be blamed on season ending injuries to Willie Parker and Aaron Smith.  But the game was badly coached by Tomlin, who kept going for idiotic 2 point conversions when had he kicked XPs they likely would’ve won.  He won the Super Bowl in his second year behind an incredible defense and incredibly good luck when it came to injuries.  Last year was an absolute embarrassment as the team showed little passion, heart, or character.  What’s worse, when the team went into a mid-season tailspin, Tomlin seemingly had no clue how to pull them out.  He’d issue weekly threats and proclamations which would inevitably fail to be backed up on Sunday.

The Steelers are known for patience with their head coaches.  I am by no means suggesting they start making plans for Tomlin’s replacement.   But I think in this case, they should excercise some patience of their own.  Because the story of the 2010 season will tell us a lot about what kind of coach Tomlin is when he has to win with his own guys.  And that story will tell us a lot about what needs to be done in 2011 and beyond.

They say the true test of a person’s character is how they handle adversity.  Anybody can ride the wave when things are good, it’s how you deal with the bad times that test your mettle.  With the Pittsburgh Steelers experiencing a collapse of historic proportions, we’re finally starting to learn which players are stand up guys and which ones are dicks.  Yesterday, starting safety Ryan Clark unleashed a 12 minute rant which will live in Pittsburgh sports infamy while earning him a permanant place in Camp Asshat.

After watching the video above, you can read the entire transcript of his tirade here or just a recap of it here.   You can find a different version (shorter but unedited) of the above video here.

Where to begin with this idiocy.  First of all, I’m sick and tired of the “You never played so you don’t know anything” excuse pro athletes use whenever somebody dares to criticize them.   The late Bill Walsh was one of the most revolutionary minds in the history of pro football.  He invented the West Coast offense and coached the 49ers to three Super Bowls.   I dunno how he could accomplish all that since he never played one down of NFL football.

I understand Clark’s point about assigning blame.  I don’t have a copy of the Steelers playbook so I don’t know exactly where every player should be on every play.  I’m sure sometimes I blame the wrong person for messing up.   However, when the EXACT same players are consistently in the vicinity of bad things happening, that has to be more than a coincidence.  And I don’t think I need a playbook to recognize when a receiver drops a catchable pass or a defensive player misses a tackle.

The rest of the rant is petty bullshit.  Posting angry fan mail on the team bulletin board?   If this team needs negativity from Steeler Nation to inspire it to play hard, there is something seriously wrong.  A hastily scribbled note from some dopey yinzer saying the defense stinks set him off?  The last time a note set me off, I was at Haine Elementary School and Nikki Clinton sent me an unflattering message about my British Knights.  Nice to know Clark has the maturity level of a nine year old.

And calling the local media overly negative and comparing Pittsburgh sports writers to Philadelphia’s is laughable.   First of all, our journalists don’t write in crayon because this city actually has a literacy rate above 25%.  Secondly, those “loyal fans” were ready to run Andy Reid and Donavan McNabb out of town last season because they’ve only lead that pathetic franchise to their most successful era ever.  And finally, maybe the media and fans are more forgiving of a blown coverage or two because the Iggles HAVEN’T LOST FIVE GAMES IN A ROW.

If anything, the Pittsburgh sports media routinely acts like the unofficial P.R. agency for the Steelers.  One of the reasons Steeler fans (and I’m guilty of this myself) have an annoying habit of treating the team like it’s the most honorable franchise in all of sports and the players are all men of impeccable character is because the media goes out of their way to portray them that way.  Heaven forbid anybody criticize the Black and Gold or paint their players in a negative light.  Sure they cover stories they have to cover, like Skippy Reed‘s assaulting a towel dispenser or Big Ben (allegedly) getting all rapey with a cowgirl in Vegas, but most of the time you’d think the saints play in Pittsburgh, not New Orleans.   And again, if the media has turned on the team in recent weeks, perhaps it’s because THEY’VE LOST FIVE GAMES IN A ROW.

Ryan Clark loved the fans when 400,000 of them lined Grant Street to shower him and his team with praise after Super Bowl XLIII. There is no thing as unconditional love.  If you want the praise in the good times, you have to accept the criticism during the bad.  I guess Clark is too immature and self-involved to realize this.

Clark is a free agent at the end of this season.  Considering his level of play has been somewhere between average and abysmal, I wouldn’t shed a tear if the Steelers let him go.  I’m sure we can find another mediocre safety who can ride Troy Polamalu‘s coattails.  Meanwhile, maybe Ryan will find a city where the fans and media are more forgiving of his inability to cover recievers or make an open field tackle.  May I suggest Dallas or New York.  I’m sure they’d be right up his alley.