I will ask you a question........as GM, raise your hand if you think Jerry make visits to a few or more schools or college games to evaluate prospects? Hell nah, sure he makes the final decision, especially on 1st rounders but the leg work is done by the coaches and McClay. I remember Jerry admitted he was initially against drafting Parsons coz thought he was an off-ball LBers but once they convinced him he would impact the pass rush, he agreed.
Read this about Tomlin's draft preparation ..........you see Jerry doing any of this. I know Tomlin is a HC but this is the kind of stuff most of these young GMs do all year.
With pro days wrapping up, I was reminded the other day of a conversation I had with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin about this time of year. I think it’s relevant now because it helps explain why Tomlin is so good at his job—and how he’s continued to be able to connect and get the most out of his players at a point in his Steelers career, going on 17 seasons now, when other coaches’ messages would’ve long since gone stale.
This was two summers ago, and Tomlin was explaining how he’s found a way to keep going when, at the time, he was passing his predecessor, Bill Cowher, for tenure in Pittsburgh. He raised the annual tour of pro days he does on his own, and in particular how he has a list of schools (Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State among them) he goes to annually.
“I got a bunch of relationships, man,” Tomlin said. “Those teams are consistently in the mix for a reason, and they got guys coming into the draft every year, so they become routine stops. And in the midst of those routine stops, you got time to do some side projects and gain some understanding. … I stay connected to college football coaches. I learn a lot from them. When I’m evaluating in the spring, and going out and preparing for the draft, I’m also studying programs and coaches and seeing what’s important to them, and the lives of the people they work with, because invariably those are gonna be some of the people that I work with.
“That’s a process that I start anew every year. Got good relationships with guys that coach in college, so, Hey, take me to your social media coordinator, let me spend five minutes with them and see the points of emphasis they’re making to the 18-year-olds that are coming into your program.”
To that end, I was with a college coach at the combine back in March, and remembering this, I saw him stop the guy, and say, “Hey, so you know, really respect what you do.”
And, in the moment, though few would know it, Tomlin was probably making the Steelers just a little better for it.
