You’ve all seen the Geico commercial with R. Lee Ermey. (And if you haven’t, it’s embedded at the bottom of this post.) The basic premise is that the concept of Geico insurance being awesome is as obvious as the expectation that a former drill sergeant would make a terrible therapist. It goes a little something like this:

Turd Ferguson: And that’s why yellow makes me sad I think.

R. Lee Ermey: That’s interesting. You know what makes me sad? YOU DO! Maybe we should chug on over to Mamby Pamby Land where maybe we can find some self confidence for you, you JACKWAGON! … Tissue?

Here’s what I think: instead of chugging over to Mamby Pamby Land when you’re feeling down, lacking confidence, or devoid of purpose, why not just head on over to YouTube where maybe you can find some videos of Mike Tomlin talking. He is, without question, the anti-jackwagon.

Just make sure you pad your walls, because there is a good chance you’ll want to run through one after hearing Tomlin speak.

With Jets coach Rex Ryan getting most of the pub during this year’s playoffs because of his brash style and press conference antics, I feel like people are forgetting about Tomlin. While he probably doesn’t mind, and would prefer the attention stay on Ryan and the Jets, I feel like taking a few minutes this morning to relive some classic Mike Tomlin press conference moments.

I should point out that I am already on record with how much I respect Tomlin as a coach. After Bill Belichick, there is no coach in the NFL I’d rather have than Tomlin. And considering their relative ages, I might just take Tomlin if given the choice between the two – but only if I had a strong organization and great coordinators to support him.

Tomlin’s strength is not necessarily strategy or Xs and Os. That’s what Dick LeBeau is there for. And Tomlin didn’t teach Troy Polamalu to be one of the best defensive players in NFL history. He didn’t teach Ben Roethlisberger to be tough to tackle and a great clutch performer. Rather, what makes Tomlin so great as a head coach – and he is, I think, probably a much better head coach than he would be a coordinator – are his attitude and leadership qualities. They are through the roof, and they are perfect for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Many people have said that Tomlin would not be nearly as successful if he were the head coach anywhere else. Well, would anyone? The Steelers are the most successful and consistent organization in NFL history. Most coaches would do okay with their organizational strength and the talent on the current roster. So look at it as the Steelers being a gift to Tomlin if you want to. That’s fine. It’s true. But also acknowledge that he is a perfect fit for the Steelers too. Both were lucky to find eachother.

Now let’s get on with some Mike Tomlin video, because I don’t know about you but I love listening to him talk. We’ll start with the newest classic Tomlin moment. It occurred during yesterday’s press conference when Tomlin gave a very appropriate and warranted answer to a question from Babbling Bob Holtzman. (I’d embed the video, but I can’t. Damn you NFL.)

Update: Thanks to @future308 for sending me the link to the YouTube version:

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Update: Also, check out this article on Tomlin in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Thanks to @IdiotsOnSports for sending me the link. Here is the money exchange: Tomlin has acknowledged his improvement as a coach from his rookie season to this one. “I’ve got too many examples to pick one,” he said last week. “It’s no big revelation that I’m a better coach this year. I’d better be better next year. It’s not always displayed in the win-loss record. I think regardless of what you do for a living, you’ve got to get better. And that’s every day. I know when I walk through those doors, that’s my intent every day. So I’m not making a bigger deal out of it than what it is. I’m just better because I am.” The idea that some of his players believe he is a better coach a year later elicited a different response. “I’m not interested in evaluating my performance and, particularly, I’m not interested in my players’ evaluation of my performance.” Tomlin said to a reporter at his news conference yesterday. “I’m paid to evaluate them.” Pause. “How’s your editor doing?” Sometimes, he’s even the aggressor off the field.

Next, we’ll go with perhaps Tomlin’s most famous individual line, when he said the Steelers “will unleash Hell in December” last year after a tough loss to division rival Baltimore dropped them to 6-5 on the season.

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I love this:

I just told the guys I appreciate the spirit and the energy with which they fought. Please don’t talk to me about moral victories and things of that nature. That’d be disrespectful to the guys in that room. We didn’t get the job done. We came up short. We accept responsibility for that. You know…we will not go gently. We’re gonna unleash Hell here in December. Because we have to. We won’t go in a shell. We’re gonna go in attack mode. Because that’s what’s required.

I do have to note that Pittsburgh lost their next two games, dropping to 6-7 with a five-game losing streak, but they did unleash Hell the rest of December (including a win in the rematch against Baltimore) as they finished on a three-game winning streak and barely missed the playoffs at 9-7.

But tell me you can watch that and not want to go out and unleash Hell somewhere yourself? I know I’m ready to unleash some Hell…right now.

Okay, for the following video, do this the first time you watch it: turn the audio down on your computer so you cannot hear Tomlin’s word but just watch his face. Then guess whether this is after a Steelers win or loss.

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The man defines the word intensity.

Here is Tomlin at his introductory press conference, and it didn’t take one minute for his overall leadership philosophy to be laid out succinctly and confidently:

Here is the money quote:

We intend to make no bold predictions about what we’re going to do. What we are going to do is promise to have a first class, blue collar work ethic in how we approach our business.

Yes, it was obvious from the get-go that Tomlin was the perfect choice for Pittsburgh.

Here is a nice video that shows Tomlin mic’d up at practice and in games. You can see how easily he can relate to his players but also switch into beast mode when necessary.

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And then there’s this.

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Snoop-a-loop!

Moving on…

Here is a relatively awkward nearly two minute long video of Tomlin and Santa Claus. He shows off both his serious side and his sense of humor, simultaneously.

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And I’ll end with this, a 16:00+ video of Mike Tomlin’s commencement speech at Saint Vincent College. You already know it is going to be awesome, and it is.

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Oh, and for anyone interested, here is Tomlin’s wife.

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It should not surprise you that while many of these other videos I have embedded here have only tens of thousands of views, this quick video of Tomlin’s wife has been viewed nearly 180,000 times. Ah, Internet. I love you. Your priorities never change.

Final thought, as we bring this post full circle: Mike Tomlin, as you can tell from watching his focus and intensity, is definitely one of the reasons why yellow – the Steelers shade – makes players, coaches, and fans of the other 31 NFL teams sad. And we know how R. Lee Ermey responds to that…

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Video: Geico Jackwagon Commercial with R. Lee Ermey

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