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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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When most people think of the Pittsburgh Steelers, typically one thing comes to mind: tradition.
The foundation of the Steelers franchise was built in the 1970s when the team won four Super Bowls in six years and had one of the more historic defenses in NFL history, the Steel Curtain — a defense that featured eight of 11 Pro Bowlers in 1976, four of whom went on to become Hall of Famers.
But it’s been a while since anyone considered the Steelers a fearsome opponent or was genuinely worried about playing a rough and physical Steelers defense.
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So when the organization parted ways with head coach Mike Tomlin earlier this week, many believed it signaled a big change was coming in the locker room culture with whomever the team brings in to replace him.
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As Pittsburgh searches for Tomlin’s successor, one franchise legend has sent a stern warning to the front office that it would be better served by bringing in a defensive-minded leader to help the franchise return to its roots.
“The philosophy when I was playing — that you run the ball and you play great defense — that has totally changed,” Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis recently said during an appearance on FS1’s “The Herd.”
“Now, you've got to put points on the board, and that's the problem that the Steelers are having — they're not putting points on the board. And so that, you have to fix, because you're not going to win football games with 7 points, 10 points, 13 points. … Fifteen years ago, it was different.”
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Bettis, who rushed for 13,662 yards and 91 touchdowns in 13 seasons with Pittsburgh and the Rams, making six Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams and winning one Super Bowl, admitted he wasn’t surprised that the Steelers and Tomlin went their separate ways.
Once the calls for Tomlin’s job became a weekly occurrence, Bettis said he knew the writing was on the wall despite Tomlin never having a losing season during his tenure.
“When you start hearing the fans turn on you, the writing is on the wall, and you can prolong it if you want to, but you're not going to get the level of support that you need,” Bettis continued. “Because what happens is, it poisons the players, and then the players start second-guessing the decisions that he's making. Right, and then once it poisons the players, now it poisons some of the assistant coaches.”
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