PITTSBURGH _ Mike Tomlin goes back a long way with his top lieutenants, Keith Butler and Randy Fichtner.
The three coached together at Arkansas State in 1998, two years after Tomlin and Butler were on the same staff at the University of Memphis. And they begin their 14th season together with the Steelers, an arrangement that has lasted longer than many Hollywood marriages.
Butler, the Steelers' defensive coordinator, is the team's longest tenured coach. He has been with the Steelers since 2003, when he was hired to be Bill Cowher's linebackers coach _ the position he played for 10 seasons in the NFL, all with the Seattle Seahawks. He was the Seahawks' all-time leading tackler when he retired after the 1987 season.
Fichtner, who enters his third season as offensive coordinator, is the only assistant remaining who was hired to Tomlin's original staff in 2007. He began as a wide receivers coach, then moved to quarterbacks coach in 2010. He remained in that role even when he was appointed to run the offense in 2018.
Despite his long relationship with his two coordinators, Tomlin has not been afraid to have others, including himself, work with the two units to improve their performance.
Since Dick LeBeau was not rehired in 2015, it is Tomlin himself who has taken a more active role in the defense, not just with game-planning but also calling defensive signals on the field and running many of the sideline huddles. By all accounts, Tomlin calls the first- and second-down defenses and Butler handles third down. Much of it is done because of the comfort each has with the other.
This year, some of that is happening with his offense. Tomlin hired former Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Canada as quarterbacks coach, not only alleviating Fichtner of that role but wanting Canada to bring some of the motion concepts he employed at Wisconsin and LSU, in addition to Pitt. Many of the players have already talked about the pre-snap shifts, misdirection and play-action concepts that are being added to the offense.
Tomlin is not undermining the authority of his coordinators, though it might appear that way. Rather, he is doing what he can to help them _ and, more important, the team _ to succeed. And he has taken that approach because of the unselfish attitude of his two longtime aides.
That may not always go over well with other coordinators around the league. But it seems to work with the Steelers
"I don't know whether or not it is common or uncommon. I know that it is appreciated here," Tomlin said. "That's one of the reasons why we've had such long-standing business and personal relationships, speaking on those two men. They don't care who gets the credit. They simply want to win. They display that unselfishness in everything they do and have, over the years, in a number of roles and a bunch of different locations. It's important to me, and I think it's a winning edge for us."
Typically, defenses with that many sacks and takeaways have the benefit of playing with a lead, allowing them to get after a quarterback and take chances in the secondary because the opponent is throwing to catch up.
But that was not the case with the Steelers, who rarely had the lead because of what guard David DeCastro referred to as a "pretty terrible" offense. They had a lead of seven or more points in only seven games and just 15 of 64 quarters last season, or just 23.4% of the time.
That their defense was that opportunistic was almost unfathomable. Imagine what might happen if they could play with a lead more often? Or with a lead of 10 or more points, which they managed only seven different times in five games in 2019.
"When you are playing with a lead and you know that teams are one-dimensional, then your ability to get turnovers increases," said senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Teryl Austin. "If that happens, that will be great. If it doesn't, then it is our job to get the ball back in these tight games. We are going to try to get after the ball no matter what. So, I think our guys are determined to make sure we play better than we did last year and get more turnovers and be more impactful on the games than we were last year."
