43
Tomlin: Steelers, Jets aren’t that different
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin walks to an indoor practice field for the NFL team's practice in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. The Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens Saturday Jan. 15 in a divisional playoff game.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan watches his team play against the New England Patriots during the second half of an NFL divisional football playoff game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011.
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
One is loud. One isn’t. One speaks his mind. One doesn’t. One has a Super Bowl title as a head coach. The other’s still in search of one. But don’t tell Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin that he’s not like New York’s Rex Ryan. The Steelers coach actually thinks there are similarities between the two.
Who knew?
Tomlin isn’t the type to brazenly predict his team will win the Super Bowl. And he doesn’t figure to ever make use of a weekly press conference to point out that the upcoming game is “personal,” as Ryan famously has during this postseason.
Tomlin also works for an organization that would, in all likelihood, politely decline allowing HBO cameras to document the team’s training camp, as the Jets did this past summer for a reality series.
But throw all that out for a second. During his weekly press conference Tuesday in advance of the AFC championship game between his Steelers (13-4) and Ryan’s Jets (13-5), Tomlin implied that if someone were given that kind of behind-the-scenes access to his team, they’d discover that the Jets and Steelers aren’t that far apart.
“Our styles are probably more similar than you would imagine,” Tomlin said. “Rex just has more fun with you guys [in the media].”
What’s more, just as Ryan had several kind words for his counterpart the day before, Tomlin reciprocated the mutual admiration society Tuesday, offering a sincere, “I love Rex” when first asked about the former defensive coordinator of Pittsburgh’s rival, the Baltimore Ravens.
Tomlin said there’s a lot more depth to Ryan than just the sometimes-brash, wise-cracking, jovial coach who appears to be so much at ease in the spotlight standing behind a podium.
“When you see past all of those things, this is a great football coach,” said Tomlin, who is in his fourth season with Pittsburgh. “He has the pulse of his football team, and he does a great job of motivating them. He’s very sound schematically in all three phases, and his glass is always half-full. I appreciate that.”
While some might say they’re growing tired of Ryan’s mouth, it’s working. The Jets are in their second straight AFC championship game, and Ryan has a chance to match Tomlin’s feat of winning a Super Bowl in only his second season as a head coach.
Plus, the case could be made that Ryan’s occasional over-the-top antics are good for the game. After all, the Jets’ win over the New England Patriots on Sunday was the most-watched divisional playoff game in history, and it’d be naive to suggest the buildup Ryan helped create in the week leading up to it wasn’t part of that.
Still, Tomlin — like his players did the day before — chose not to engage in any trash talking. Not the Steelers way, of course.