Steelers' James Harrison Explains Big Breakdown Of Relationship With Mike Tomlin: "Say That To My Face"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have seen a lot of highs and lows throughout recent seasons with Head Coach Mike Tomlin running the ship, but they all seem to end in the same result, and fans have been getting very annoyed. When everything goes bad, he knows how to get the team out of the rut, but when things go great, it seems like he tries to fix something that's not broken, which leads to everything breaking down. The cycle has been so infuriating, and some have called for change.

During the debut podcast of Deebo & Joe, former Steelers defender and major Tomlin critic, James Harrison explained how their relationship went south. 

"Where my relationship with Tomlin broke down was towards the end, the last year [in Pittsburgh]," Harrison explained. "He always says, 'Ask a tough question, I'll give you a tough answer.' Well, I was asking the tough questions, but I wasn't getting the tough answers. I was getting the answers that he thought would appease me, to be quite honest with you. I'm like, 'Yo, I need to play, I need to do this, I need to do that.' 'Yeah, okay, we got plans. We're going to do something,' and nothing came to it."

Tomlin is known as a player's coach that will try to keep them happy, but if he can't talk to his players like adults, it will be hard for him to keep the respect around the league that he has. "Ask a tough question, I'll give you a tough answer" is a great Tomlinism and an accurate way of how business is done in the NFL, but it means nothing if he doesn't practice what he preaches, and that's where Harrison took issue with him. 

Harrison continued on to talk about how Tomlin kept seemingly lying to him during the 2017 season.

"What it really came down to was like, 'Yo, you're just sitting me here to have me as a backup just in case one of your young guys go down and you can put me in there, I understand that, but say that to my face. I can deal with that better than you sitting here and feeding me a whole crock of stuff that does not make sense.'"

The Steelers' starters at outside linebacker in 2017 were second-year player Bud Dupree and rookie TJ Watt, both of whom were first-round picks. Of course, when you spent so much draft capital on one position, you will do everything you can to make it work. That's what Tomlin was doing, but he refused to admit that to Harrison's face. He instead kept playing it off as there was some plan to save him so he can go off in a game later on.

Steelers' Mike Tomlin Has Started To Develop A Reputation

Harrison is not the only player to feel slighted by the 19th-year head coach for not telling the truth. Numerous people have spoken about that, and it seems like the list only grows as time goes on. The common theme is backups who are questioning their role on the team and not getting a straightforward answer. Veterans like Melvin Ingram and young players like Justin Fields have all experienced that unpleasant side of Tomlin. 

The Steelers even did that to a first-round quarterback of theirs. Even though Kenny Pickett had not done much in his first two seasons, Tomlin still gave him a massive vote of confidence to his face while working behind his back to find a replacement. If he told Pickett that he would have to earn the starting spot, he may still be a Steeler to this day. Instead, Pickett has been traded three times in 18 months, and he is on the growing list of players who seemingly lost respect for one of the most respected coaches today.

What do you think about Tomlin apparently lying to Harrison, as well as his recent history of refusing to give the tough answers to players? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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