Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shared his true thoughts with Travis and Jason Kelce on what a players-only meeting means from an NFL standpoint.
Teams in crisis or ones that lack cohesion often come to a point in a season where they have a players-only meeting to ensure that everybody is on the same page. However, these meetings rarely happen if a team is successful.
After the recent players-only meeting in the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive room, former coach Tomlin had a pretty direct take on what that means for a team’s season.
Mike Tomlin’s blunt truth on what a players-only meeting means for an NFL team
On the recent episode of The New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, Tomlin shared his thoughts on what a players-only meeting could mean for a team’s season while clarifying he would never want to know about his team doing the same.
“I think you’re dead… If it did occur, I’d like to not know about it. The fact that you hear about it is what makes it BS. ‘We had a players-only meeting (sarcastically).'”
Tomlin spent 18 years as the Steelers’ head coach, making winning seasons a habit in the city while also delivering them a Super Bowl in 2008.
He stepped away after last season as the team fell into a middling hole where they were good enough for playoff appearances, but not good enough to actually make another run at the Super Bowl.
Players-only meetings are a topic right now because the Cowboys’ defensive room held one after their 24-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5.
The Cowboys have one of the worst defences in the NFL this season, ranking last in run defence (168.4 yards per game) and 31st in total defence (395.4 yards per game), 21st in pass defence (227 yards per game), and 25th in total defence (27.2 points per game).
They have a 2-3 record in the NFC East after five weeks. With their rival Eagles also having a 2-3 record and the division-leading New York Giants having a 3-1-1 record, the Cowboys can remain optimistic for a good season given how strong their offence is.
If this players-only meeting is a sign of a worsening situation, the Cowboys might be forced to make major trades across their defensive line to remain competitive.
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