Retired Steeler Shares Team's Fitting Nickname For Mike Tomlin

It has to do with the coach's famed nuggets of wisdom.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin during the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec 1, 2024. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Although Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin might be known for some of his goofier "Tomlinisms," if you will, retired Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor recently shared a team nickname that honors the longtime head honcho's more potent nuggets of wisdom.

"We called him 'The Preacher' because of his words," Taylor told The Athletic for an oral history regarding Tomlin. "All he did was spit gold nuggets. That’s all he be spittin’!"

For the piece, Athletic reporters Elise Devlin, Jayson Jenks, and Mike DeFabo spoke to 16 current and former Steelers for the inside scoop on the NFL's longest-running head coach. The resulting anecdotes are quite heartwarming (entertaining, yes, but mostly heartwarming).

"I broke my forearm in (Week 3) and he said: “Don’t worry, you’ll be back,” Taylor, who played for the Steelers from 2003 to 2014, continued. "Then he kissed me on the forehead. That meant a lot."

Former RB Rashard Mendenhall (2008-2012) said the coach would listen to music with him at night during training camp: "In my room at training camp, I used to always have a record player, just to slow things down. So he would come to my room for bed check and be like: 'What are we listening to tonight?' It would always be like Dionne Warwick or Stevie Wonder. I’d let him pick a record and he’d just kick back with me and talk about life. … Maybe he knew that mattered to me."

And ex-offensive tackle Max Starks (2004-2012) remembered Tomlin even offering to pay for meals. "We’re sitting at a restaurant because I’m up at training camp now, Mike T walks in, before we even know it, he’s like, 'Put their food on my tab.' Like, 'Coach, you just stepped in here,' and he’s like, 'Hey, listen, what you’ve done for me and allowed my kids to be Pittsburghers, I can’t pay for enough meals.'

Don't get it twisted, though: Tomlin will still "put you on blast," Taylor explained. "You just want somebody to tell you the truth. It’s going to hurt, but you respect it."

"He has a good balance between being a good guy, being a bad guy, whatever’s needed," added Mendenhall. "But you know it’s only to drive you to your highest performance and your greatest good."

Case in point, per ex-linebacker James Farrior (2002-2011): "We used to play cards after practice all the time. It was how we bonded. Eventually it got out that a couple of young guys were losing a little bit too much money. [Tomlin] came down one day after practice and pointed out two or three rookies who were playing with some of the veterans and was like: 'You guys are fools.' … He stopped the game and let the rookies go and then it was just me and a bunch of veterans sitting in the room, and he was like: 'Y’all know better than letting these young guys here in this card game.' So after he let the rookies have it, he let us older guys have it, too."

After defeating the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Tomlin successfully continued his 18-year streak of winning seasons, while the Steelers clinched their 21st consecutive non-losing season overall.

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