Mike Tomlin Addresses Tough Questions After Playoff Loss

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00:00Uh, first, let's hear Mike, uh, talk about, uh, he was asked by, and I will say this,

00:04the reporters, uh, for the first time, and some people were mentioning this, they really

00:08were kind of giving Mike some tough ones, they're pushing back.

00:12There really wasn't a lot of softball stuff with Mike after another playoff loss, uh,

00:16yesterday in the, in the year.

00:17Here's one where he was asked if the Steelers have been stuck in the same place, uh, every

00:23single year.

00:24Here's what Mike had to say.

00:25Um, you know, I don't know that I've looked at it from that perspective.

00:29I'm certainly disappointed that I'm not working to prepare to play this week, um, and I've

00:34certainly felt that in recent years, um, but stuck is kind of a helpless feeling and I

00:40don't know that I feel helpless.

00:41Well, what gives you optimism, what is that optimism that, you know, you guys can emerge

00:45from this sort of place you've been in?

00:47You know, I don't know that I'm ready to be overly optimistic or sell optimism to you

00:51either.

00:52I'm just acknowledging what transpired and what has to happen and what is beginning to

00:56happen and acknowledging the, the, the, the complexity and the amount of work that's ahead

01:02of us.

01:03Um, certainly feel capable.

01:05Um, but, but, you know, definitely doesn't feel in the mood, uh, for, for optimism or

01:12the selling of optimism.

01:13I don't know that that's appropriate.

01:15Um, you know, it's disappointing not to be working.

01:18And so that's where we are fair enough.

01:22Like, you know, it is what it is like, they're not getting rid of him.

01:25So you can sit there and a bellyache like me for days on end.

01:30I'm frustrated as much as anyone is in Pittsburgh.

01:34I think it's a lot like, you know, Buffalo, uh, when they lose all the time, the frustration

01:39boils over into the community because that's all they live for.

01:42You understand?

01:43Like people in Pittsburgh live for the Steelers and more so believe me more so than the penguins.

01:50Uh, it's a Steeler town and always has been.

01:54And when they lose it's full on onset of depression.

01:58I mean, literally even little kids, everyone is depressed because Pittsburgh is depressing

02:06to begin with.

02:07It is a steel town.

02:09It is a bad snow belt town like Buffalo is to Western New York.

02:14And when all it does is crappy weather, snow and misery, even in the summer, it's hot as

02:19hell and humid and miserable.

02:22It's never nice.

02:23It's like a sunny day in Pittsburgh is like a rarity.

02:27So when all you ever have is depression and angst and losing and, and just that vibe,

02:33it carries through to people and they literally, they don't function.

02:37They don't work well.

02:38They don't, they're not productive.

02:40Less babies are born the whole deal.

02:42Nobody does anything.

02:43No one's in a good mood.

02:44No one's nice.

02:45Pittsburgh's a nice town.

02:47People are cool to one another.

02:48There's not a bunch of, you know, a holes in Pittsburgh.

02:51But when they lose, there are.

02:53Here's Mike.

02:56He was asked if he's still the right man for the job in Pittsburgh.

03:00I think a lot of fans have been questioning coaching at the top, starting with you.

03:04If you are still the right guy for this job, what's your message to them?

03:08You know, I have no response to that.

03:10I understand the nature of what it is that we do, the attention and criticism that comes

03:14with it.

03:15As a matter of fact, I, I embrace it to be quite honest with you.

03:19I've heard it all.

03:20I enjoy the urgency that comes with what I do and what we do.

03:25I don't make excuses for failure.

03:27I own it.

03:29But I also feel like I'm capable.

03:31And so as long as I'm afforded an opportunity to do that, I will continue.

03:37But I certainly understand their frustrations.

03:39And probably more importantly than that, I, I share it because that's how I'm wired.

03:45And so, um, I'm not a big time comfort seeker and particularly in, in circumstances such

03:51as this, I don't view myself as a comfort provider because there's, you know, words

03:56of hollow to be quite honest with you.

03:59It's about what we do and less about what we say.

04:03And so I've learned to say very little, um, when things are going good and I've learned

04:07to say less when they aren't.

04:10So I gotta be honest with you, this guy, uh, he really is exactly what you just saw.

04:16A guy that I really believe he loves his players and he loves people that are in the organization.

04:23He loves the Roonies.

04:25He loves Pittsburgh, but he could give a flying F what you think of him as a fan.

04:33He does not care what fans think of him and never will.

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