Veteran journalist Albert Breer recently made heads turn when he claimed how both Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy are cut from the same cloth but still have the perception of a “wise scribe” and “bumbling idiot” respectively. Since Breer’s statement, many have wondered about the interpretation of his words. Finally, we have an explanation from the man himself.
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In Breer’s latest appearance at “What The Football”, the journalist noted that the difference in perception between the two Mikes stems from the way they present themselves. While the Steelers coach has consistently communicated with gravitas and strength, McCarthy is more of an introvert, often sporting a confused expression.
According to Breer, another potential reason for the radical difference in the duo’s perception stems from their coaching career. From the outset, there is barely a distinction in their regular season coaching record. Mike Tomlin has a coaching record of 183-107-2 (.630) while Mike Mccarthy has a record of 174-112-2 (.608).
And believe it or not, the former Cowboys HC has a better playoff record [11-11] than the “wise scribe” Mike Tomlin [8-11]. As per the journalist, the issue is due to the teams they have coached.
Tomlin has been with the Steelers since 2007, and not once there have been negative PR around him. For McCarthy, meanwhile, the journey so far hasn’t been smooth.
For starters, McCarthy, unlike Tomlin, was fired once in his career (by the Packers). Secondly, Albert noted that McCarthy’s association with the Cowboys led to a significant amount of bad PR until he was eventually ousted from there as well.
“I think the drama at the end in Green Bay, the fact that Mike McCarthy’s already been fired, and you know, everything that goes with coaching in Dallas… like, I think, what’s part of it, too, is the organizations they’ve been a part of… [Contrastingly], Pittsburgh is so buttoned up and straight laced… and in the same way, you have never heard of them ever being a circus or anything like that.”
From Dallas fans constantly bad-mouthing McCarthy for not winning the Super Bowl to regular media speculation that Jerry Jones employed the head coach more as a puppet than for his talents, it’s fair to say that McCarthy’s reputation has taken quite a hit over the years.
When someone looks at the results Mike brought to the franchise, they can understand how much of the criticism McCarthy faced was unfair. It’s for these reasons that both Mikes have distinct perceptions in the media despite having similar coaching records and Super Bowl wins.
That said, the host of “What The Football”, Amy Trask, had a radical suggestion — what if we swapped the Mikes to their counterparts’ teams? In simple words, let Mike McCarthy manage the Steelers while Tomlin will take over as the HC at Dallas.
This popular fantasy scenario has been circulating on the internet lately, and to be fair, the swap makes a lot of sense. For starters, the Steelers with McCarthy would get a much-needed fresh start in Pittsburgh.
Despite consistently making the playoffs, the Steelers’ last playoff win came all the way back in 2017. Results have stagnated under Mike Tomlin, and it seems like he could benefit from a change of scenery.
And, as for Jerry Jones, he would get a veteran HC who knows a thing or two about winning a Super Bowl. In many ways, this unexpected swap could be just what the two teams needed, but never realized.
