Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says it’s ‘soap opera stuff’ regarding James Harrison’s criticism

Former Pittsburgh Steelers standout outside linebacker James Harrison made some major headlines earlier this week. Harrison made comments that voiced his belief the team isn’t disciplined enough under head coach Mike Tomlin.

It was only a matter of time before this made it back around to Tomlin issuing his own statement on Thursday where he respected the opinion of Harrison but made it clear that his focus is on next season, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.

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“He has an opinion. He’s entitled to it,” said Tomlin from St. Vincent College. “He doesn’t play for us right now, man. I’m focused on 2018, man. That soap opera stuff, I’ll let you guys play that game.”

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Tomlin may not want to publicly address these comments. However, there is much weight to them given that Harrison had played the bulk of his career with the team. He had spent many years playing under him. That should give a clear recognition of the type of coach he is.

On top of that, he had spent the last few weeks of the season with the New England Patriots where he got to see first hand the coaching style that Bill Belichick has that has helped make his team a powerhouse in the league for nearly two decades. Much of this lies with the heavy amount of discipline that the team has under Belichick that allowed them to achieve a tremendous amount of success.

There may be much credence to what Harrison believes, but the Steelers under Tomlin have a chance to use that as extra motivation to push forward to compete for the Super Bowl this upcoming season.