Wins this season:
Islanders 43-eliminated
Devils 42-eliminated
Capitals 42-not in playoffs
Penguins 41-clinched playoffs
Flyers 41-in playoffs currently
Blue Jackets 40-still alive for playoffs
NHL has screwed up points system.
Adam Schefter says Mike Tomlin leaving diminishes any return of Aaron Rodgers: “We start with the quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. For all of the discussion about the possibility that Aaron Rodgers could return next year, does anybody think he’s coming back to Pittsburgh if Mike Tomlin isn’t there? Who thought he was coming back anyway, to begin with? So it looks like, the early word, the early sense would be, this certainly diminishes any chance that Aaron Rodgers would return to Pittsburgh.” #Steelers #NFL
Ben Roethlisberger would like to see an offensive minded Head Coach in Pittsburgh: “I’m not just saying it because I’m an offensive guy. But we’ve had defensive head coaches here that specialized in defense. And I get it Pittsburgh, I understand that Steelers football is about defense and running the ball, but why not mix it up? Why not bring in a head coach that’s offensive minded that would kind of change it up. Because, listen, let’s be honest, six points is not enough points in a playoff game. You can’t do that. Let’s bring in a head coach that’s offensively minded and allow him to then bring in a defensive coordinator. I would love to see a little bit of a shift in the head coach to be more of an offensive guy.” #Steelers #NFL
Art Rooney II says he's not going to get into Mike Tomlin's contract. He says he was "willing to take another run at it next year with Mike"
That's what he was expecting to talk about yesterday but the conversation took a different turn.
Art Rooney II said he was expecting to meet with Mike Tomlin to discuss his return next season and did not anticipate him stepping down.
The decision reportedly came as a surprise.
per Art Rooney II
#NFL#Steelers
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports Mike Tomlin has been thinking about stepping down for weeks: “Mike Tomlin had been thinking about this for a while. I was hearing from sources close to the head coach really for weeks that he was leaning toward this way of just a life reset. You know, his kids are out of high school now. They grew up in Pittsburgh. He'd been there in nearly two decades. What more was there to chase? He'd won a Super Bowl, you know, the roster, even though I don't think personnel played into this, but the Steelers are in a bit of a reset themselves. So this is a coach that had done it all and simply was a little burned out. That was my sense.” #Steelers #NFL
Steelers president Art Rooney II on possibly trading Mike Tomlin: "Mike indicated that he did not anticipate coaching, at least in the near future. ... If something like that comes up, we'll deal with it when it comes up. But right now, it doesn't appear to be on his radar."
Art Rooney II says that he doesn't believe anyone on the current staff will be a candidate for the next Steelers head coach.
He also says that the new head coach will be able to assemble their own staff without anyone else meddling in it.
Tomlin on the Texans: “The No. 1 thing that stands out about this Texans collective is that they're No. 2 in the league in ball security offensively, and they're No. 3 at taking the ball away defensively. They've got 29 takeaways, and so when you're taking care of the football and you're taking it away, you're positioning yourself to win a lot of football games. We have a similar profile. We're tied-for-third in ball security on offense and No. 4 in taking it away. And so it's two trains on the track. We've been able to win four out of our last five. They've won nine in a row. Generally, there's a turnover component to those discussions when you're stacking wins. And so that's going to be a critical component of this game, and probably a lot of games. There are a lot of teams in this tournament that master that component. That's how you get in the tournament. And so the turnover game is big. We better preserve and protect the football. And we certainly better take it away. But I'm sure that's their agenda as well.” #Steelers #NFL