With the Steelers languishing at 1-4 and three games in which they’ll be underdogs coming up before the bye, head coach Mike Tomlin is getting a lot of criticism.
In addition to his critics locally, there is growing criticism from national outlets on Tomlin’s handling of his current team.
But while many believe that Tomlin has the most juice inside Steelers headquarters, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio still believes owner Art Rooney II is more involved than people think.
Florio tells The PM Team, the Steelers are very close to the chest when it comes to who gets to make the ultimate decisions.
Take for example Jerry Jones in Dallas who has his name on everything and is also the team’s general manager.
“It’s always been very difficult to get to the bottom of who’s running that show and I continue to believe Art Rooney has a lot more sway and a lot more influence and a lot more power than anyone realizes, at every level of the decision-making,” said Florio.
Florio adds he doesn’t know if it’s because Rooney is humble or because he doesn’t want to take the blame when things go bad.
Florio used the example of Tomlin telling then offensive coordinator he would be taken care of and paid, but of course what happened is he “retired”. Florio says he believes he didn’t have the juice like Bill Belichick does in New England and continues to not have it to influence Rooney as much as people may think.
Many have been calling for offensive coordinator Matt Canada to be fired, with some wondering he was hired in the first place.
Florio believes it’s Rooney that is the one making those type of decisions, not Tomlin.
While things can change, if there is a rash of bad seasons, Florio believes Tomlin will stay the Steelers coach for as long as he wants, even if he doesn’t have the influence on Rooney that people believe.