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I'm not going to argue, but just to make a point in Cowher's favor. After the cap thing started, Cowher had players abandoning ship right and left, going for the big bucks other teams offered. This seemed to happen to him for several years. I'm not talking one or two players a year, but several. He plugged someone else in the holes, and went on as good as he could. Some years weren't as successful as others, but he did well with what he had.

You guys have the best damn owner in the world too. That's where it all starts, the owner. I just wished we had one who didn't want to play cowboy, coach, buttinski, and bird dog.

In Cowhers favor, he did a damn good job drafting. Big Ben, Troy "the hitman" Polamalu. Hines "psycho" Ward. Kendrell bell, Joey Porter. Sorry Dallas, and Oakland but you guys are stuck with an owner that is trying to win another SB before they pass on.

I'm a Steelers fan and, believe me, I hope that Tomlin becomes the greatest HC in Pittsburgh history. But we're at a very, very early stage here. There is a saying in pro tennis (where the grand slam tournaments run over a period of two weeks) that relates to good starts: "You can't win the title in the first week, you can only lose it." Same thing applies here. Tomlin can't possible have done anything that would suggest he's the best HC ever thus far in his career (I think both Gruden and Billick won titles in their rookie years, hell, even Switzer won one early on). Best we can say for Tomlin is that he's been successful enough so far that he hasn't taken himself out of the running yet.

I am a huge Tomlin fan, I'm certainly not ripping on him, just trying to keep it real.

guys, keep in mind that it all starts with having the right players. the 70's teams were from incredible drafts, the best ever. cowher's teams were also very deep, able to fill the holes when players left. this team is no different. excellent drafting, key free agent pickups. the coaches develop the players once they get in town, but we have to give a whole lot of credit to the GM's and scouts. they're doing a heck of a job. let's hope they keep it up.

not the Greatest one of the Greatest!!!!!

he's off to a good start. Cowher was consistent & thats all you can ask for w/ your team: to have a shot each yr to win & to be competitive. Cowher had some misses as well but you could count on the steelers being a solid team yr in & yr out. So far Tomlin has exceeded that. he's keeping the identity of the steelers, maybe w/o the exception of running the football 25-30 times, but his personnel can allow him to do that & ben's been a winner since he's arrived in the league (look at the stats-numbers never lie)

I like Tomlin as much as anyone, and would argue that he has the brightest future of any coach in the league, but he would be the first to admit that he's got a long way to go before his career achievements surpass Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll.

Yes, he won the Super Bowl in his 2nd season at a ridiculously young age, but the division, conference, and league titles his accumulates over his career will be the basis for measurement.

I do agree with you that he has the killer instinct in spades, something Cowher would too often downplay in favor of Marty-Ball...

yes yes i agree that coach has a ways to go before you can acknowledge him as one of the greats, but i believe his smarts for they game rank at the level or slightly above that of Mr. Spygate.

for the* game.

I call him the third emperor.If he wins three more you can call him the greatest.

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 12:22 AM ET  06.29 by steel_bullitt

"......Sorry Dallas, and Oakland but you guys are stuck with an owner that is trying to win another SB before they pass on......

You mean "buy" one, don't you?.............lol

While I'm here, let me defend Chuck Noll, too. (Not that I have to) When he was the coach, there was no salary cap for one thing. He also didn't have a "ready made" team to inherit either. You fans should know how bad the Steelers were before Noll, unless you were born after the late 70's.

Noll had to build from what he got, and he eventually won 4 SB's. It took him awhile to do it, and that, in my opinion, is the work of a 1st class coach.

Think about if Tomlin and Cowher were to start basically from scratch like Noll did....... they'd probably build a winner eventually, but how long would it take them to do it?

I don't really think you can compare each coach. Each did things his own way, under different circumstances.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 12:34 AM ET  06.29 by gcn

"...... even Switzer won one early on...................."

But, Switzer won his with Jimmy Johnson's people........lol.......He didn't last long after the salary cap started, because people were like "rats leaving a sinking ship".

Now, whether or not he could have built a winner, we'll never know, because Jerry Jones put his finger on the "firing" trigger. We got Chan Gailey after that, and he only got 2 years, which wasn't long enough. Then, "Mr 5-11" himself, Dave Campo.