Big Ben happy with new steelers coach Tomlin
By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Ben Roethlisberger rarely calls it like he sees it.
As the Steelers quarterback, Roethlisberger would do well to run for political office. He normally keeps his spirals tight and his comments safe.
That's why Roethlisberger's candid opinion Friday about his relationship with former coach Bill Cowher seemed so out of character.
But necessary.
In a rare moment of candor, on the first day of the Steelers' voluntary minicamp, Roethlisberger all but said he's glad that Cowher -- his coach for the first three years of his NFL career, the coach who stuck with him in 2006 during a tumultuous, anticlimatic, nightmarish 8-8 campaign -- is gone.
You be the judge.
Reporter: "You think your relationship with the new coach is going to be equal or different from the one you had with Cowher?"
Roethlisberger: "It's going to be definitely different, because coach Cowher was, obviously, here before I got here, so our relationship wasn't great just for the fact that he was here so long before I got here, and I was just a young kid, a rookie, when he got here. Coach Tomlin and I are both, in a sense, rookies together. So, I think we might have a little bit better relationship."
Call it a generation gap, if you must.
For those doing the math at home, Cowher turns 50 next month. He's hardly an old fogey.
Altough Tomlin, 35, will 15 years younger than Cowher on Cowher's next birthday, his best asset may be that he's a new voice offering fresh opinions to Roethisberger, 25.
Almost immediately upon entering Camp Tomlin, Roethlisberger pledged allegiance to his new coach, at the same time bidding adieu to his old coach.
Roethlisberger has more responsibility under new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. He calls the pass protections now. Under former offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, a lineman made the calls.
"It makes it tougher right now," Roethlisberger said after yesterday's morning session at the team's South Side facility. "You break the huddle, and you forget what (count) you called it on and you forget what the pass protections are. Right now, it's tough, but I think once we get the hang of it, it will make it a lot easier and a lot better.
"I feel like a rookie again, with a little more knowledge than I had in my first year," he said.
Roethlisberger and Tomlin are developing a trust for one another.
"The communication has been clear, and I think that's all you need," Tomlin said of his relatonship with Roethlisberger. "I've been clear in terms of what I
expect from him. He's communicated clearly to me the things that are important from a quarterback standpoint.
"As long as we continue to be upfront and honest with each other, we'll be able to meet the challenges that await us."
Of course, Roethlisberger acknowledged that he was speaking after only the first practice of a voluntary minicamp that was missing Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca.
Yesterday's comments were an obvious ploy by Roethlisberger to extend a much-needed olive branch to Tomlin, to make a public statement that the new head coach and the old starting quarterback are already reading from the same chapter and verse.
All is apparently well between Roethlisberger and Tomlin, who hopes that a happy quarterback is a productive quarterback.
