Steeler Nation is accustomed to football analysts mentioning the franchise’s stability. We hear weekly that the team has had only three head coaches since 1969. Inevitably, an announcer will honor Mike Tomlin for never having a losing season.
However, when Tomlin took the reins of the team in 2007, it felt like change was in the air.
Safety Anthony Smith, who played under both Bill Cowher and Tomlin, remembered the transition.
“Bill listened to us,” he tells me in an interview. “We were like, ‘Hey, can we get a break this morning or afternoon or whatever?