Sports
Why Steelers’ Mike Tomlin is my favorite to win his first NFL Coach of the Year award
Cameron Heyward stared at the four-letter message projected on the screen, wondering what it all meant. As Mike Tomlin — the master of acronyms, and the most powerful force in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ universe — spoke passionately to his players about an upcoming opponent in a darkened meeting room late last month, the light began to go on in Heyward’s head.
He’s talking about ME.
The subject was Dexter Lawrence, the New York Giants’ two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle. The subtext was Heyward, a 14th-year interior lineman and three-time All-Pro, who was about to set a franchise record for a defender by playing in his 202nd regular season game.
The acronym on the screen was “WGFO.”
“I was like, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’” Heyward recalled Monday. “And it was, ‘We Gonna Find Out.’”
Specifically, Tomlin was challenging Heyward to prove he could still play at as high a level as Lawrence, who was nine years his junior. And the 18th-year coach was doing it in his own inimitable way, mixing humor with cold, hard truths about the sport he loves.
“He finds ways to motivate every guy on this team,” Heyward says of Tomlin. “It’s about having a relationship with every man that walks into that locker room. Every day in practice he’s interacting with guys, and after practice he’s walking around the locker room doing it, too. He has relationships with everyone, and there’s less room for chaos because of that.”
Though Tomlin, the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach, is one of the most successful men in his profession, he also tends to be one of the least appreciated. Since taking over as Pittsburgh’s head coach in 2007, he has never had a losing season. Think about that — in a league designed to accentuate parity, the man hasn’t had a single bad year, with nearly two decades of sample size.
That’s crazier than a beloved establishment showcasing sandwiches with French fries and coleslaw.
Yet some Steelers fans, frustrated by Tomlin’s recent lack of playoff triumphs, continually complain about his perceived shortcomings.
Such gripes are typically met with eye-rolls in NFL circles, yet there’s a case to be made that Tomlin chronically gets less praise than he deserves. The 52-year-old has won a Super Bowl, two AFC championships and 188 combined regular season and postseason games, yet he has never been honored as the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year.
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That could change come February. Though there have been some stellar coaching jobs this season — by Matt LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell, Dan Campbell, Raheem Morris, Dan Quinn and others — Tomlin’s masterful touch in guiding the Steelers to a 7-2 record has been unparalleled.
To put it in terms he’d appreciate: Midway through the 2024 campaign, he’s my COTYSF (Coach of the Year So Far).
Tomlin has managed a potential quarterback controversy, overseen the installation of a new offense and helped reenergize a defense with five new starters (if you include nickel back Beanie Bishop Jr., an undrafted rookie). The Steelers may boast the NFL’s most effective special teams units, and their only two defeats (consecutive losses to the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys) were by three-point margins.
They’ve prevailed in four other one-score games, including last Sunday’s stirring, 28-27 road victory over the 7-3 Washington Commanders.
Suddenly Pittsburgh, which has been one-and-done in its last four postseason appearances, appears formidable enough to compete with the AFC’s best teams.
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The Steelers will learn more about themselves Sunday when they host the 7-3 Baltimore Ravens, who trail them by half a game in the AFC North. Still, for the first time since Ben Roethlisberger retired in January 2022, they appear capable of winning big games without relying on their defense and special teams to carry them.
The biggest reason for the Steelers’ success? Well, there are two big ones. Tomlin’s got cojones. Unlike so many of his coaching contemporaries, he’s not afraid to go with his instincts, shoot his shot and live with the consequences if he misses.
He’s a risk-taker, and his players vibe on that.
Sunday’s victory over the Commanders was like a sizzle reel for Tomlin’s COTYSF candidacy. The Steelers led 7-0 when, with 5:16 left in the first quarter, they tried a fake punt on fourth-and-15 from their own 16. The play caught the Commanders by surprise but failed when one defensive back (upback Miles Killebrew) was unable to complete a pass to another (James Pierre, who couldn’t handle the throw).
Three plays later, Austin Ekeler’s 1-yard touchdown run tied the game. Tomlin didn’t trip, saying afterward, “That is me. I own that, but I’d do it again.”
The Steelers fought back from a 24-14 deficit and won on a late touchdown when Russell Wilson, on third-and-9 from the Washington 32, completed a high-arc deep ball to Mike Williams, who’d been acquired in a trade five days earlier and had never practiced the route.
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On paper, it was somewhat preposterous. In real life, it was glorious. And it would never have happened without Tomlin’s conviction.
Beginning last spring, Tomlin’s faith in Wilson has been perplexing to many people inside and outside of the organization, in light of the way the former Seattle Seahawks star had seemingly regressed in recent years.
Wilson, 35, struggled mightily after being traded to the Denver Broncos after the 2021 season. He seemed to have lost a step — at least a step — and to possess far less field awareness than in previous seasons.
Last December, Broncos coach Sean Payton benched Wilson — with his team still technically in playoff contention — to avoid the financial ramifications of a possible injury. Given Payton’s reputation as an offensive guru, it was perceived by many of his peers as an irrevocable indictment of Wilson’s abilities.
Tomlin saw it differently. When Wilson, released by the Broncos, became a free agent in March, the Steelers quickly signed him as the successor to Kenny Pickett, a failed 2022 first-round draft pick.
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Days later, they swung a trade with the Chicago Bears to acquire Justin Fields, the 11th pick in the 2021 draft. From that moment, skepticism swirled. Many NFL coaches and talent evaluators speculated that Wilson wouldn’t win the starting job, even as Tomlin insisted he’d go into training camp No. 1 on the depth chart.
When a calf injury essentially derailed Wilson’s preseason — and lingered into October — Fields seized his opening. His speed and mobility helped new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith conceive an attack that created favorable matchups for Pittsburgh’s running game. By the time Wilson was fully healthy, the Steelers were 4-2 and coming off a 32-13 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Virtually no one thought Tomlin should make a change. Roethlisberger, on his “Footbahlin” podcast, said after that victory, “All in all, I would absolutely not even think about taking (Fields) out of the game right now.” That was the prevailing sentiment inside the Steelers’ organization, too.
Tomlin decided otherwise, intent in his belief that Wilson — who won one Super Bowl and came within a yard of winning a second — still possessed the elite qualities that could potentially help the Steelers elevate in the postseason. “I’m not trying to win games,” Tomlin told Fox’s Jay Glazer. “I’m trying to win a world title here. I gotta see what I’ve got in both.”
Because of that, Tomlin told Glazer, he “went Lone Ranger” and made the move.
One big difference: The Lone Ranger wore a mask. Tomlin laid bare his intentions and mindset to all parties concerned.
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Inside the locker room, there was no grumbling or second-guessing. Tomlin, who has habitually gotten the most out of strong (and sometimes prickly) personalities — former stars Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and current receiver George Pickens are some obvious examples — sold the move in a manner that some of his mealy-mouthed peers would be wise to emulate.
“All three guys — Justin, Russ and Mike — handled it with complete class,” Heyward said. “(Tomlin) said, ‘We’re gonna see what happens, but we will not be forgetting what Justin did, nor will we think Justin’s just gonna be someone who gets lost in the shuffle. It’s a long season and we will see what happens.’”
Here’s what has happened so far: The Steelers are 3-0 with Wilson at quarterback. He has thrown six touchdown passes and one interception, and Pittsburgh has averaged 30.7 points per game in those starts. The Lone Ranger is riding high.
Then again, the schedule gets tougher now, with two games against the Ravens and clashes with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs among the tests awaiting Tomlin’s team.
Can the Steelers meet the challenge — and win a playoff game (or more than one) for the first time in eight seasons?
As Tomlin would say, WGFO.
(Top photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
Sports
Prep basketball roundup: Ontario Christian girls knock off defending state champion Etiwanda
It’s not every day that Dawn Staley, coach of South Carolina, the No. 1-ranked women’s basketball team, walks into a Southern California gym. Staley, in town ahead of Sunday’s game between South Carolina and UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, dropped by Harvard-Westlake on Saturday night to see Etiwanda take on Ontario Christian in a matchup of The Times’ No. 1 and No. 2 girls teams.
Of course, Staley has interest in Ontario Christian sophomore All-American Kaleena Smith and freshman standouts Sydney Douglas and Tatianna Griffin. And there’s also players on Etiwanda, the two-time defending state champions.
Ontario Christian (3-0) made an early-season statement as the team of the future with a 74-66 victory over the Eagles (2-1) to win the Harvard-Westlake tournament. Douglas scored 23 points, Smith had 20 points and Griffin added 12 points. Grace Knox led Etiwanda with 30 points and Aliyahna Morris had 16. Ontario Christian’s pressure defense combined with balanced scoring left Etiwanda behind by as many as 16 points.
It was a Smith step-back three in the second quarter that had Staley turning to one of her assistants in the bleachers with a big grin.
“I love her,” Smith said. “She’s come to my games.”
Ontario Christian first-year coach Aundre Cummings said, “It means a bunch because she has been such an advocate for the women’s game. To see a legend like her support this is a blessing.”
Boys basketball
Chatsworth 60, Etiwanda 54: The Chancellors (4-0) continue to impress as the No. 1 team from the City Section. Alijah Arenas finished with 29 points.
Brentwood 94, Westlake 74: AJ Okoh contributed 26 points and was named tournament MVP at Simi Valley. Shane Frazier added 24 points and Shalen Sheppard 16.
Mira Costa 74, Tesoro 55: The Mustangs won the Ocean View tournament. Eneasi Piuleini had 23 points and earned tourney MVP honors.
St. John Bosco 81, Francis Parker 40: The No. 1-ranked Braves opened with an easy home victory. Brandon McCoy scored 25 points and Elze Harrington added 20 points. Christian Collins had 16 rebounds.
Harvard-Westlake 65, Westchester 39: The Wolverines (3-0) completed their first week unbeaten. Nik Khamenia had 15 points.
San Juan Hills 62, Trabuco Hills 48: Mason Hodges scored 25 points and earned MVP honors at the Santa Ana tournament.
Birmingham 48, Oakwood 41: Mandell Anthony had 22 points in the Patriots’ season opener.
Heritage Christian 81, Legacy 49: Tae Simmons had 36 points and 19 rebounds and Dillan Shaw added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Heritage Christian.
Simi Valley 59, Crescenta Valley 57: Joaquin Aleman had 26 points for Simi Valley.
Dominguez 61, Valley Christian 60: Sophomore Rueben Brown had 20 points for Dominguez.
Los Osos 81, Crenshaw 50: Jalen Washington led Crenshaw with 21 points.
Redondo Union 76, Rancho Cucamonga 69: Chace Holley contributed 22 points and Chris Sanders 20 points for Redondo Union. Aaron Glass had 27 points for Rancho Cucamonga.
Chaminade 56, Liberty 55: Jonas Thurman scored 17 points for 3-0 Chaminade.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 85, Saugus 55: Lino Mark had 27 points and NaVorro Bowman added 18 points for the 3-0 Knights.
Viewpoint 63, Arleta 42: Wesley Waddles had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Viewpoint (3-0).
JSerra 80, San Tan 59: Jarne Eyenga had 18 points for JSerra (1-2).
La Habra 76, Anaheim Canyon 63: Acen Jimenez completed an impressive first week with a 32-point performance for La Habra. Brandon Benjamin scored 27 points for Canyon.
Sports
The rise of football’s ‘arrival fits’, putting player fashion in the spotlight
Tom Marchitelli worked as an accountant for a hedge fund for eight years before setting up a side hustle that soon became his full-time business.
Marchitelli started a custom menswear clothing business called Gentleman’s Playbook a decade ago. Since then, he has accrued approximately 500 clients, the majority of whom are professional athletes in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, and on the PGA Tour.
When The Athletic spoke with Marchitelli, he was heading to an airport in Dallas after a meeting with a baseball player.
In his role as personal designer, stylist and tailor, Marchitelli handpicks entire wardrobes for a clientele which includes Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. During the different pre-seasons across the United States’ various leagues, Marchitelli is rarely in one city for long. As well as working on a lookbook of outfits for specific events, the majority of his work centres around personalising entire collections of tunnel fits for the athletes he works with.
“Tunnel fits” is the phrase used to describe what sportsmen and women wear when they turn up at venues for games (‘fits’ being short for ‘outfits’).
Usually, athletes arrive in the tunnel beneath the arena wearing their best outfits, which is where the name derives from. Think of it as a pre-game runway, where players across sports in North America showcase their personalities through what they wear.
The most fashion-conscious athletes, such as Houston Texans’ Stefon Diggs or Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, will go big, but others prefer to keep it simple.
Kyle Kuzma was in the former camp, and is now the latter. The Washington Wizards forward recently announced his ‘retirement’ from the tunnel walk after taking the game to heights with choices including an incredibly oversized pink Raf Simons jumper and a black Rick Owens puffer jacket.
“I don’t want to be a part of that type of community where you have to put on a ’fit. I’m really taking a backseat to all of that,” Kuzma told Vogue in October.
While Kuzma has checked out and traded in a palate of high fashion for plain-tasting sweatsuits, in Europe, footballers are only just checking into the world of tunnel fits.
“It is a sport within sports (in the U.S.),” Marchitelli says. “Social media plays a huge role, because all major sports teams have media people who are in charge of photographing the players as they enter.
“That’s only been around, I would say maybe eight years, because when I first started, that (posting images of players arriving to games on social media) wasn’t a thing. And then it started becoming so visible.
“You’re getting a close and personal look at what athletes look like when they’re not in their uniforms (team kit), and how they are choosing to express themselves. And, over time, players have taken more pride in how they show up for work.
“Another big factor that drives it is competition among players. These guys are trying to outdress guys on their team, guys on other teams across their sport, and even crossing over into other sports.
“When they show up to the arena, they’re given the uniform that they’re forced to wear, so they don’t have any real choices of self-expression other than their shoes, cleats (boots), maybe a wristband accessory or a headband. But the outfit that they wear to show up to the game, they’re able to express how they feel and how they want to look.”
Marchitelli could field a team in each men’s major sports league with the number of clients he has, but not a single one is a professional footballer despite MLS and NWSL teams having both dabbled in this subcultural movement.
In European football, tunnel fits are almost nonexistent. France international Jules Kounde led the way for Barcelona in recent seasons with his ensembled looks which blend vintage finds with high fashion. This season though, Barca players are no longer been allowed to arrive for games in their own clothes. This has led Kounde, a face now as recognisable in fashion quarters as much as football, capturing his fits to share with his followers on social media after matches instead.
Most teams have a strict club-tracksuits-only policy applied to matchday and this is one of the main reasons why pre-game tunnel fits have not yet taken off in football.
So where is the individuality? The answer to that does not yet reside in the underbelly of stadiums but in the car parks of the sport’s training grounds. Heading into training for your club or national team has slowly evolved into a time when players across the men’s and women’s games can showcase their style in the form of arrival fits.
Showing up for international duty, in particular, has become a moment for players to demonstrate their fashion prowess.
Last month, Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate arrived at France’s training ground wearing a neon green hood zipped over his face while his international team-mate Marcus Thuram, often bedecked in Balenciaga and Chrome Hearts, is among those also paving the way.
Players of Argentina, Belgium and Portugal are three other standouts who consistently show up. Meanwhile, England — whose players include Louis Vuitton brand ambassador Jude Bellingham — are still strutting around in team-supplied Nike tracksuits, proving the trend has not completely caught fire everywhere.
“It was probably 2022 when that (arrival fits) wave really began,” Jordan Clarke, founder of Footballer Fits, a platform which celebrates footballer fashion, says.
Clarke noticed that Premier League team Crystal Palace had started putting pictures on Instagram of their players arriving at their south London training ground wearing their own clothes. After starting a conversation with the club, Footballer Fits and Palace have been collaborating on Instagram posts to showcase what players are wearing ever since.
“Now we’ve done it with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Anderlecht in Belgium, we’ve done it with Brentford a lot, we’ve done it with Crystal Palace Women, Chelsea Women — there are so many,” says Clarke, who hopes that arrival fits are a precursor to tunnel fits becoming a regular sight in football.
“I don’t want to leave anyone out, but we’ve done it with so many clubs and now you’re seeing Liverpool, Newcastle United and Manchester City maybe not doing it in collaboration with us, but they’re doing it (themselves) now, and that’s amazing to see.
“With training, there is a lot less pressure. They (clubs) can release photos midweek and whatever happens on the weekend, unless you’re a super-negative person, I don’t think people are going to link back to what the players wore to training as the reason why they lost.”
Siobhan Wilson is one of the players who has featured on Footballer Fits’ Instagram page in collaboration with her club, Birmingham City Women, and she would welcome an escape from the traditional pre-match tracksuit.
“It actually annoys me, you know — especially when you see what they are doing in the WNBA,” says the 30-year-old Jamaica international with a laugh. “I wish we did stuff like that here. They just want us to all look like clones of each other, but it’s fine.”
Wilson used to deliver mail while playing part-time for Palace. She now combines a full-time playing career at Birmingham, who are top of the second-tier Championship, with being a fitness influencer to 1.3million followers on TikTok.
“It’s nice for the fans to see players express themselves through what they’re wearing and their style,” she says. “You get to see people’s personalities by doing that, so it would be something that I would love to see more of.
“For me, I feel like if you’ve got like a nice ’fit on, and a good pair of shoes on, you just feel good. But I get the other side (players arriving in uniform tracksuits) too. It is a team game. You’re there to play as a team, so I get it from that standpoint, but wearing your own clothes and feeling comfortable in what you’re wearing: it allows you to be yourself a bit more.”
Algen Hamilton is a designer and stylist from south London.
His break in the fashion industry arrived when he started styling looks for footballer friend Reiss Nelson, the Fulham winger (on loan from Arsenal) who he met at primary school aged four. Hamilton’s client list includes Trevoh Chalobah (Crystal Palace, on loan from Chelsea), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Joe Willock (Newcastle), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) and Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City).
“I’ll work with them constantly throughout the season, whenever they want to — when they have an event coming up or they have an awards ceremony or they’re going to a premiere,” Hamilton, 24, explains. “When it comes to arrival fits, those looks normally come from the wardrobe I create and I’ll update it multiple times in a year.
“I speak to them first about what they want to wear and what the vibe is that we are going for, if it’s different to before, where they are travelling to et cetera. Then I’ll go off, make the outfits and send them a message. They will tell me which outfits they love.
“So, for example, I’m working with Trevoh right now. We made a whole bunch of outfits, which he picked, and then there are brands who want to gift some stuff for winter.”
Having worked with Chalobah on a full-time basis since 2021, Hamilton has watched the progression of football and fashion’s relationship firsthand.
“When I first started, players weren’t really going out there dressing up like they do now, and it wasn’t just the Premier League — we are talking La Liga (its Spanish equivalent) and the Bundesliga (the top division in Germany),” he says.
“Also, brands weren’t really opening up partnerships to football players either. As time has gone by, the popularity has grown and supporters are tapping into the player outside of the training ground and off the pitch. I feel like now, those opportunities are happening more. Players are more open with their fits and want to show them off.
“We have watched the game change bit by bit and it is only a matter of time for it to get to that stage where it’s like the sports are in America. But let’s not mix a step forward with progress, because it can be a step forward seeing teams do that (post-arrival fits on social media) but it doesn’t mean it’s actual progression for the teams to change their minds.
“The Premier League is very traditional. They’ll probably be the last league that will change how things are.
“It would be nice for the progress to be meaningful; for it (wearing an arrival outfit) not to be looked at as a distraction or as a moment where players aren’t focused on what the team objectives are, but to see it as an opportunity where players are expressing themselves.”
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(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Peterson)
Sports
Jason Kelce to host new late-night show on ESPN
Jason Kelce is expanding his media resume.
The future Hall of Famer, who is a podcast host and “Monday Night Football” analyst, announced Thursday he will host a late-night show on ESPN.
Kelce made the announcement during an appearance with Jimmy Kimmel, a future rival.
“I loved late-night shows. I’ve always loved them. I remember sleepovers watching Conan O’Brien with my friends,” Kelce said on Kimmel’s show. “We’re going to have a bunch of guys up there — legends of the game, friends that I played with, coaches, celebrities.”
The first four episodes of “They Call It Late Night With Jason Kelce” will be broadcast in front of a live audience at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, where Kelce played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Eagles.
The first episode will be taped the evening of Jan. 3 and will be broadcast the following morning at 1 a.m. ET. ESPN will record four more shows, and the final broadcast is scheduled for Feb. 1.
Kelce and his younger brother, Travis, launched a podcast, “New Heights,” in 2022, a few months before facing each other in the Super Bowl.
After Travis won that Super Bowl, he hosted “Saturday Night Live,” and Jason made an appearance. Travis is also the host of the show “Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?”
Kelce’s wife, Kylie, announced Friday she is pregnant with the couple’s fourth daughter. In his career, he made seven Pro Bowls and was a six-time first-team All-Pro selection.
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