Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams doesn’t seem to hold a particularly high opinion of head coach Mike Tomlin.
The retired running back finished his career with two seasons in Pittsburgh. One of his coaches, running back coach James Saxon, was fired by Tomlin on Monday. When asked about what his thoughts were on this move, Williams’ response was a bit eye-opening.
Well it all makes sense with firing coaches as a head coach it buys u time https://t.co/KdRuSobXnp
— DeAngelo Williams (@DeAngeloRB) January 7, 2019
It buys you time…
Whew.
It was rather strange that Tomlin let Saxon go. NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala laid out a solid argument for why it was a bit puzzling.
#Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announces he’s not renewing RBs coach James Saxon. Definitely befuddling to me. As far as I know, he was beloved. And respected. And @LeVeonBell and @JamesConner_ definitely performed under his tutelage. 😕
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) January 7, 2019
To recap: James Saxon helped expand Le’Veon Bell’s game. He helped guide James Conner to a Pro Bowl year as arguably the team’s most improved player. And under his guidance, Jaylen Samuels – a kid who’d never had 19 carries on ANY level – went 19-142 vs the Pats. Yep, let him go.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) January 7, 2019
Tomlin has been undeniably successful during his tenure as the head coach of the Steelers, making the playoffs in all but four of his 12 seasons and of course winning Super Bowl XLIII.
However, he seems to have lost control of his locker room this past year as the team’s stars have dominated headlines with seemingly unlimited amounts of drama. And of course on top of that, Pittsburgh missed the playoffs.
So, it’s not hard to see why Williams seems to think Tomlin made Saxon his scapegoat at this time.