Mike Tomlin wasn't very accountable when he didn't list Byron Leftwich on the injury list after the Ravens game and merely said they were normal football injuries. Some in the NFL will call that gamesmanship. I call it lying.

I'm not really sure what you were expecting him to say after eight turnovers and numerous holding penalties cost them a shot at the Division.

Very good article.

I must respectfully disagree with your view of Mike Tomlin, while agreeing that he is not apt to throw specific players "under the bus", as many other coaches are wont to do.
That said, I am tired of his cliches that are repeated ad nauseum, along with just dumb comments such as "unleash hell" a few seasons back. They didn't even unleash heck after that .
My main concern with Tomlin is his inabilty to prepare the team well, especially against "weak" opponents, which result in debacles such as the Oakland game this year. It's the player's who play, and Tomlin's not on the field, but the lack of consistent effort is worrisome, and I believe Tomlin places too much emphasis on being a "players' coach", and the resulting lack of discipline. He is also poor in game and clock management.
There are too many out of shape and overweight players on the Steelers, resulting from a lack of conditioning and lax training that is seemingly accepted by the coaching staff. Thus, we see a rash of injuries that continues each game.
"We own it.", " The standard is the standard", etc. are just two of his oft-repeated, meaningless cliches, and they defintely do NOT resonate as accountability to me. Just platitudes, that's all.
Tomlin is one of the last persons I would consider as a prime example of accountability. To use a few cliches, he's a mile wide, and an inch deep, and much more sizzle than steak.

My thoughts exactly. Tomlin is truly accountable to only the Rooneys and to the season ticket holders. But the reporters that cover the team are an extension of the fans. By not answering their questions with these evasive and tiresome sports cliches, he is distancing his team from the fans. Cowher wasn't exactly an open book when it came to press conferences, but he at least gave some insight into what was happening with the team and why he made certain decisions.

Maybe the reason every single running back fumbled was because they are being implemented poorly with this RB-by-committee nonsense. Dwyer has been by far the best runner this year, but he wasn't used enough against the Ravens. He didn't even start against the Browns. Tomlin should own up to that decision-making. Instead, he merely says "we didn't make enough plays to win." Whatever.

I respect all of your well-voiced divergent opinions. Civil discourse is best when it is, well, civilized. I think the winner of this dialogue is accountability itself, mainly because we've all been thinking about what it means to each of us and have telegraphed our expectations on the subject--in this case Mike Tomlin. We can respectfully disagree in our interpretations, but having the conversation at all is what encourages me.

I have the utmost respect for Mike Tomlin. He gives you the impression that he lives the principles he verbalizes and advocates, which is admittedly a difficult thing for some of us.

In that context, his answers may sound repetitive and not as flamboyant as say, Bill Cowher. It does remind me of someone else, though - some guy named Noll - and that's good enough for me.

I like Coach Tomlin. I do think he gets out-coached too much. Charlie Batch should have never been in the position to win or lose that game.

The past couple of weeks have exposed a severe weakness in strategy by Colbert, Tomlin, or whoever makes personnel decisions. Starting the season with a top QB (#10), and two others (#2, #3 in ranking) was not a good strategy. Other teams doing well have at least two QBs, that ranked #8 or better (e.g. Bears, Niners). The Steelers left themselves wide open for disaster. They relied upon a QB that hadn't played in two seasons and a history of injury, and another that is 37(?) years old. I like Charlie Batch very much. He is an antithesis of the most pro players, does great work in the community, and comes across as a very genuine person. But, time has taken a toll on his football skills. I hated to see him put in this position.

As for Tomlin, and his cliches, yes, they grow old and are tired. Most of us could sit at the Tuesday news conference and answer the questions. However, having said that, I often wonder if there is a basket outside the door to the room, a basket for the reporters to check their brains. I don't know the setup (never been there), but most of the questions are just plain stupid. For the huge amount of money involved in pro football, these events are the lowest dregs of the barrel (read: big money does not mean intelligence).

n

Jeff and Others,

The bottom line is that Tomlin was hired to produce wins not attempt to speak well. All of the non sense that he speaks should not out value the teams record. He inherited a structurally sound Cower team and fell into a super bowl. The further away this team gets from the Cower era the more down hill it is going. I think in the coming years we will see that the Rooney's made a poor decision to hire an individual with an outrageously low experience level. I can care less about his personal values or the way he speaks. Ben is on the back end of his career, Troy has a year left, no key running back in place (becasue he treats them all a children). We will see if he is a good as you think. By the way, can you explain why he looses 90% of his challenges? Tough times for the Steelers ahead. We will revist the 80's under the great leadership of Mike Tomlin. As far as not having Ben at the moment - Bill Cower did not have a quarterback for the 1st 10 years and he did pretty good.

All of your comments reveal that Coach Tomlin is a far more polarizing figure than I would have guessed when I made my initial comments about accountability. Still, regardless of his talent or skills (neither of which I am qualified to judge), I lift up the spirit in which, I believe, his statements of accountability were made. In fact, despite our assumptions about his motives, he will be held to account for the team's performance (and his own). The Rooneys are notoriously loyal people, but they have also shown that they understand the "business" side of the NFL -- that you have to win to have a successful franchise (notwithstanding the seeming global appeal reflected by Steeler Nation). While we the fans maintain our right to have high expectations for the Steelers, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Coach Tomlin serves at the pleasure of the Rooney family. If his performance is inadequate, he will forfeit his very lucrative position. Should the owners fail to act to correct a bad situation, they will bear the consequences through bad press, outraged fans and, ultimately, lower market value for the team (admittedly, I can't imagine this to be of significant impact in the short term). My initial assertion is the same -- through his willingness to "own" the outcome of any given game, Mike Tomlin provides a positive example of the burden of leadership. It's impossible for any of us to accurately measure his degree of sincerity. The best evidence of that lies ahead.

lets face it . a player can screw up royally several times in a game and not fear the coach dogging him on the sideline. tomlin remains calm even when the same player gets called for holding 4 times in a game. we miss cower

This might be opening an old wound, but Tomlin's explanation about not going for 2 and leaving Ben in the game when it was obviously over were less than truthful, logical or accountable. He is being rightfully hammered by the media for the lack of judgment and his team's pathetic preparation against another subpar opponent. The Steelers are now 7-6 this year with four of those losses coming against losing teams. Tomlin should be held accountable for his inability to prepare his team for "gimme" wins.