Speaker 1: The NFL's annual meetings are underway in Orlando, and the Yields,
Speaker 1: of course, have a lot to talk about. But the
Speaker 1: biggest story for them, both locally and nationally, the changes
Speaker 1: in their quarterback room that have happened recently here in
Speaker 1: the off season, a topic Mike tom Went addressed with
Speaker 1: media from around the country.
Speaker 2: You know, when the free agency process began, we only
Speaker 2: had one quarterback on our roster. Obviously when we got
Speaker 2: into it, after he got permission to talk to other
Speaker 2: teams from Denver, the conversations were very fluid and natural.
Speaker 2: He did his appropriate research on us, and I think
Speaker 2: that that's probably was one of the more impressive things
Speaker 2: about the process from my perspective, his level of preparedness
Speaker 2: in terms of knowing us and who we are and
Speaker 2: how he might potentially fit. Just really putting ease over
Speaker 2: the process. Obviously, you know, we anticipated it to be
Speaker 2: in a competitive market. I think he went to New
Speaker 2: York prior to coming in our place, and so we're
Speaker 2: pleased that it was able to come together.
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin described Russell Wilson as driven and says that
Speaker 1: Wilson has the pole position to be the Steelers starter,
Speaker 1: but the Steelers also traded Kenny Pickett and acquired Justin
Speaker 1: Fields from Chicago to complete the transformation in their quarterback room.
Speaker 2: In the days following our acquisitional Russell, Kenny expressed a
Speaker 2: desire for a change of scenery. As I mentioned, we
Speaker 2: had been in pretty fluid communication with Chicago after we
Speaker 2: got a sense of what direction that was going. Then
Speaker 2: the domino started the fall and we did the transactions
Speaker 2: necessary to send Kenny to Philly and acquired Justin. We're
Speaker 2: excited about the guys that we have in Russell and
Speaker 2: Justin Man and just really can't wait to get started.
Speaker 1: Beyond the quarterback situation, there are plenty of huge topics
Speaker 1: for the Steelers in this offseason. Mike Tomlin was good
Speaker 1: enough to sit down with us here in Orlando at
Speaker 1: the ENF annual meetings, and Mike, let's start with the
Speaker 1: hiring of Arthur Smith this UH winner. What drew you
Speaker 1: to Arthur Smith and what do you expect out of him?
Speaker 2: You know, I think the first thing that drew me
Speaker 2: to him was just how tough he was to compete against.
Speaker 2: We've seen him a lot UH in recent years, whether
Speaker 2: it was in Atlanta or Tennessee. In terms of his
Speaker 2: approach to offense, some core beliefs were really attractive to me.
Speaker 2: His his willingness to run the ball and play behind
Speaker 2: the run game, uh, the way he throws the ball
Speaker 2: down the field and play action. All of those were
Speaker 2: were really attractive components of his profile to me, again
Speaker 2: based on what it is that we wanna do and
Speaker 2: how we're built, but also his recent assignment as a
Speaker 2: head coach is really attractive. There's some there's some awesome
Speaker 2: unintended consequences picking up an assistant with that level of experience,
Speaker 2: calendar things, approaches to business. There's just a lot about
Speaker 2: Arthur that's that's really attractive and I'm glad we have him.
Speaker 1: Does he fit your personnel as well? Do you think certainly?
Speaker 2: A and and by fitting our personnel, I just think
Speaker 2: he's adaptable. I think we as coaches have to be adaptable.
Speaker 2: We can have a mindset about how we wanna go
Speaker 2: about our business, but we better be light enough of
Speaker 2: on our feet to to to adapt that that vision
Speaker 2: to fit personnel. And just competing against him, over the
Speaker 2: number of years that I have I've seen that adaptability
Speaker 2: based on personnel and and He's expressed, uh that through
Speaker 2: this process, and so I'm really comfortable not only in
Speaker 2: terms of his core beliefs, but I'm also comfortable in
Speaker 2: terms of his adaptability to to cater that, to to
Speaker 2: to what's best for the collective.
Speaker 1: User word adaptability. You hire other new coaches as well,
Speaker 1: some of them have to come in and adapt or
Speaker 1: learn your personnel of How does that work sort of
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, with getting everybody integrated on a coaching staff.
Speaker 1: Is it seamless? Is there a give and take on
Speaker 1: both sides? How does that work?
Speaker 2: I think it It starts first and foremost with a
Speaker 2: commitment to to communicate and formally and informally to get
Speaker 2: to know new coaches oftentimes start with video to get
Speaker 2: to know players and whether you're talking about them as
Speaker 2: an individual or about them as a collective, video is
Speaker 2: where it starts. And and then you start having conversations
Speaker 2: or to get to know the people involved. And so
Speaker 2: more than anything, it's about a commitment to to communication
Speaker 2: formal and informal. There's no other way around it other
Speaker 2: than the roll your sleeves up and start attacking it.
Speaker 2: And and that's what's been exciting, That's what we've done.
Speaker 2: It creates uh, some anxiety, some urgency because of the
Speaker 2: newness of it, because you know the transitional component of it. Uh,
Speaker 2: But usually that brings the best out in.
Speaker 1: All of us. What drew you to Patrick Queen?
Speaker 2: You know, he has the definitive unique combination of youth
Speaker 2: and experience. He came into the league as a twenty
Speaker 2: year old. He's played in every game since he's been
Speaker 2: in the NFL, He's been highly available, and so he
Speaker 2: has that experience yet and still he's twenty four and
Speaker 2: a half years old, and so I think youth and
Speaker 2: experience is a unique thing he has it. I'm really
Speaker 2: excited about what he is gonna be for us, and
Speaker 2: not only in terms of what he's gonna bring, but
Speaker 2: just to get better. You talking about a guy that's
Speaker 2: twenty four and a half years old, that is a
Speaker 2: Pro Bowl level and caliber player as we sit here today,
Speaker 2: it's reasonable to expect him to continue to get better.
Speaker 1: When you bring a guy like that in just maybe
Speaker 1: not him in specific, but high end players like that,
Speaker 1: how much do you tweak your scheme a little bit
Speaker 1: to them? How much is it incumbent upon them to
Speaker 1: play the style you want. I'm sure that's part of
Speaker 1: the selection process for player as well.
Speaker 2: I think I think initially is probably the onus is
Speaker 2: on the player to assimilate into the environment. But I
Speaker 2: just think the more time you spend with a player,
Speaker 2: the more you gain an understanding of what they're capable of,
Speaker 2: what they do well, and what they don't. And shame
Speaker 2: on you as a coach if you don't work to
Speaker 2: highlight the things that they do to well or work
Speaker 2: to minimize the things that they don't. And so it's
Speaker 2: gonna be dual responsibility. Responsibility on a guy like Pat
Speaker 2: first to figure out how we do things, you know,
Speaker 2: win in Rome, be Roman, but also over time it's
Speaker 2: gonna be important for us as coaches to put him
Speaker 2: in the very best position for him to play well,
Speaker 2: to to utilize his talents, and an effort for us
Speaker 2: to play good defense and win games.
Speaker 1: You added to Sean Elliott Dante Jackson to your secondary.
Speaker 1: How do they help you? What are their skill sets?
Speaker 2: Like? You know, uh D jack is a guy that's
Speaker 2: a very capable cover man, a guy that's undersized yet
Speaker 2: plays with an edge. He's really quick, his anticipatory skills
Speaker 2: are very evident. He's a ball guy. He's he attacks
Speaker 2: the football. I have always liked that about his profile.
Speaker 2: And Elliott is a guy that, because he was in
Speaker 2: division at the early stages of his career, where highly
Speaker 2: familiar with what he what he brings. He is a
Speaker 2: strong tackler and aggressive player. Has always had the appearance
Speaker 2: of being a really good communicator. And those are some
Speaker 2: things that are really critical to the safety position.
Speaker 1: I know there are still holes to fill, but do
Speaker 1: you feel like right now, maybe projecting out or maybe
Speaker 1: just where you sit right now, that your team has
Speaker 1: improved over the team that you know lost in the
Speaker 1: first round of Buffalo?
Speaker 2: You know, I don't know that I feel that, as
Speaker 2: I said here, I just think that, you know, the
Speaker 2: draft and and what remains in free agency is such
Speaker 2: significant work. Make no mistake, we we like what we've
Speaker 2: done thus far. But man, we're still very much in
Speaker 2: the midst of this thing. The draft is so significant,
Speaker 2: and sometimes late acquisitions, although they don't get headlines, are
Speaker 2: really significant. We signed Kwan Alexander, for example, last year
Speaker 2: when we were in camp, and you know, prior to
Speaker 2: his injury, man, he was shaping up to be a
Speaker 2: significant component of what we were doing defensively, and so
Speaker 2: I'm still excited about the work that lies ahead, and
Speaker 2: we still have a high level of urgency, uh for
Speaker 2: the work that lies ahead.
Speaker 1: I think the last question is the biggest for a
Speaker 1: lot of fans. Do you expect to be coaching the
Speaker 1: Steelers for the foreseeable future?
Speaker 2: Hey?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know.
Speaker 2: I love what I do, I love where I do it,
Speaker 2: I love who I do it with. And so I
Speaker 2: answered that question rather easily to be quite honest with you.
Speaker 2: Certainly we have, you know, things like contracts and things
Speaker 2: to address, but just in spirit, in terms of what
Speaker 2: I do, the energy in which I bring to what
Speaker 2: did I do, the desire to to get out of
Speaker 2: that car every day and step into that facility, It
Speaker 2: hasn't waned in any way. If if it's done anything different,
Speaker 2: it is intensified.
Speaker 1: Mike. Thank you, Thank you. M