Scott Adams died yesterday; the cause of death was metastatic prostate cancer. Scott Adams was the creator of the comic strip Dilbert which I considered a “must-read” from the mid-1990s on. His social and political views were outside the mainstream; he described himself as a libertarian minus the crazy stuff; nonetheless, some of his views were seen by many as “crazy”. He suffered from the “cancel culture” when he made some racially insensitive remarks on his podcast. Notwithstanding his personal sociopolitical views, Scott Adams brought me thousands of smiles and chuckles with Dilbert and Wally and the pointy-haired boss. His satire of “office life” was sharp and pointed; he will be missed by many folks including me.
Rest in peace, Scott Adams.
Mike Tomlin decided yesterday to abandon his role as the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers after 19 seasons on the job. Every football fan in America knows that Tomlin’s Steelers never recorded a losing record in any of those 19 seasons and that feat alone should pave the way for Mike Tomlin’ entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The search process for a new coach will be an unfamiliar one for the Steelers’ organization and for Steelers’ fans; here is the history:
- In 1969, the Steelers hired Chuck Noll to replace Bill Austin.
- In 1992, the Steelers hired Bill Cowher to replace Chuck Noll.
- In 2006, the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin to replace Bill Cowher.
In the last 57 years, this will be the Steelers’ fourth “coach-hiring event”; that record is unique in NFL ranks.
Even though Tomlin’s teams never had a losing season, a part of the fanbase became disenchanted with him and his style of football – – defense first and a conservative offense. At a game in the regular season this year, chants of “Fire Tomlin!” broke out in one of the Steelers’ home games. I have to think those chants played at least a small part in Mike Tomlin’s decision yesterday.
Some have opined that Tomlin now joins John Harbaugh as a “prize catch” in this year’s NFL coach-swap season. [Aside: How great would it be for Harbaugh to get the Steelers’ job and for Tomlin to get the Ravens’ job and the two of them to carry on their rivalry?] My gut tells me that Tomlin is not going to take another coaching gig quickly; the level of stability that he had lived and worked under in his time with the Steelers is not likely to be imitated let alone duplicated anywhere else; so, I suspect he will do a lot of thinking about whether he wants to work in a different environment or not.
Others have suggested that Tomlin will go into broadcasting – – and at least a few commentators have speculated that he already has the outline of a deal with FOX for next season. Yahoo!Sports says that he earned about $100M over his time with the Steelers; if that figure is even close to correct, I doubt that Mike Tomlin “needs a job”. Personally, I think he would be very good on TV if that is what he chooses to do next in his life.
Staying with today’s theme of “departures”, the Eagles fired their offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo yesterday. To say that the Eagles’ offense underperformed in 2025 would be high praise for that portion of the Eagles’ team. After I watched the Eagles lose to the Niners over the weekend, I sent a text to two good friends who are Eagles’ fans; I did not know at the time I sent the text that they were in attendance for that game freezing their butts off in those weather conditions. Here is the text I sent to them:
“If Patullo has a job with the Eagles on Tuesday morning, that means he has photos of the owner having sex with a barnyard animal.”
I have not seen a report as to the exact time that this separation took place, but I will assert that my prediction came true because there are no photos of the Eagles’ owner having sex with a barnyard animal – – or even a household pet.
At the end of a text exchange with my friends, one of them declared that:
“… I’m swearing off going to Eagles games when the wind-chill is below 70°.”
To paraphrase the bearded guy in the Dos Equis ads:
- Stay warm, my friends …
Finally, since today has been about separations, let me close with George Carlin’s view on one specific separation:
“I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
I read that Matt Ryan has already interviewed Harbaugh for the Atlanta job. I wonder if Tomlin is next. I also wonder what the criteria is/was for either side?
Interesting. I watched that game, too. Exactly how many passes did Kevin Patullo drop? And I wonder if Patullo taught Hurts to roll to his right EVERY time he felt pressure. I don’t keep track, but I think this year’s O line looked different from the one that escorted Saquon to record yardage last year.
Might there be an element of scapegoating here? It’s hard to blame the HC only a year after their crushing win in the Super Bowl. And Howie Roseman has been granted “genius” status so he gets a lifetime pass. If things don’t improve next year, the HC’s head might be the next to roll … and I doubt that he will be missed.