Daunting task ahead
TAMPA, Fla. — Mike Tomlin promises that two words you will not hear from him next NFL season are "repeat" and "defending." That will be his approach to the tricky slope that faces every Super Bowl champion the year after their greatest success.
His Pittsburgh Steelers put themselves in position to repeat, something previous champions have found very difficult to do, with their thrilling 27-23 Super Bowl XLIII victory over Arizona on Sunday night.
But in this era of NFL football, the group that celebrated in the locker room and on the field at Raymond James Stadium won't be the same group that convenes in July at St. Vincent College in Latrobe.
"When I walk down the hallway and look at Steelers' championship (teams) from the '70s, it's the same faces in the same positions in those photos," Tomlin said Monday, referring to the four Steel Curtain championship teams.
"That's not the reality of today's NFL, to be quite honest with you. We're going to roll up our sleeves at the appropriate time and start with a new group of men. Hopefully a lot of them will be the same as we go about our business to try to compete. This group will always be special to me and will take its place in history. But it will be just that, history."
Luckily for Tomlin, the Steelers don't face the loss of many big-time free agents. Tackles Marvel Smith and Max Stark, guard Chris Kemoeatu, cornerback Bryant McFadden and wide receiver Nate Washington head the list of those who could hit the market Feb. 27.
And at this late stage, it's unlikely Tomlin will lose many, if any, members of his coaching staff. As the youngest coach ever to win the Super Bowl (he'll be 37 on March 15), he has no thoughts of walking away in retirement or at least taking a sabbatical as his predecessor, Bill Cowher, did after winning Super Bowl XL.
Yet the task of getting back to the pinnacle the Steelers reached Sunday night is daunting. Some oddsmakers list the Steelers and Patriots at 6-1 co-favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, with the Giants and Colts right behind them at 8-1. But that's like trying to predict a storm track two weeks before it develops. The way teams sprout out of nowhere these days, plus the injury factor, make every season an unknown adventure.
"The thing that I am going to sell our football team is we are not attempting to repeat," Tomlin insisted. "A lot of the faces will be the same, but nothing stays the same in this game. People will come and go, roles will change, some will ascend, some will descend. That's the nature of today's NFL. Our focus will be being the 'one' at the end of the season, and we will be no different than anyone else in that regard."
Tomlin's talk sounds similar to that of the Giants' Tom Coughlin last year and the Colts Tony Dungy the year before and even Cowher the year before that. Try as they might, none of those coaches was able to return to the big stage the next season.
The Steelers will have some things going for them. First, there is the defense, ranked No. 1 in the league the past two seasons and replete with playmakers such as James Harrison and Troy Polamalu and stalwarts such as James Farrior and Casey Hampton.
Unlike the Cardinals, whose veteran quarterback, Kurt Warner, is a free agent and contemplating retirement, Tomlin will have Ben Roethlisberger under center for quite a while. Roethlisberger already has two Super Bowl wins and in the latest one performed much better than he did in the Super Bowl XL win over Seattle.
And while veteran receiver Hines Ward may be on the downside, Santonio Holmes is emerging as a future star. Holmes earned Most Valuable Player honors for his nine-catch, 131-yard game that included the game-winning 6-yard reception with 35 seconds to play.
Tomlin suspended Holmes for the Giants' game Oct. 26 after police found marijuana in his possession during a traffic stop. To see his wide receiver bounce back and have an extremely productive postseason capped by the great Super Bowl performance meant a lot to his coach.
"That's the business of coaching," he said. "When you work the way we work with these players, you are a life-coach in a lot of ways. You care about them, you really do. You wear many hats in this business and I embrace that as much as I do the X's and O's.
"I probably get more enjoyment out of watching people grow than from winning football games. It's a beautiful thing. I believe what we are called to do."
