Mike Tomlin didn’t soften the edges when the conversation turned to Najee Harris.
During Football Night in America’s coverage of the Kansas City Chiefs-Seattle Seahawks Week 7 game, the former Steelers head coach weighed in on the New York Giants’ upgraded run game and wound up landing on one of his trademark lines. He described Giants head coach John Harbaugh’s recent approach as "killing a mosquito with an axe," then turned his attention to Harris and the fallout from his comments about the ground attack.
Harris, the former Steelers first-round pick who spent his first four NFL seasons under Tomlin, had complained about the lack of rhythm in his run/carry opportunities. Not long after that, the Giants released him. Tomlin didn’t dance around the sequence.
"Najee Harris spoke out about a lack of rhythm in run/carry opportunities," he said. "And now he’s unemployed.
Message sent. You can always ease up and be buddy-buddy.
I just think it's important at the early stages to establish a rapport, and that's what he's (Giants HC John Harbaugh) doing."
The remark was funny, but it also cut straight to the point Tomlin was making: first-year coaches often feel pressure to set the tone fast, and sometimes that means making a hard example of somebody. In this case, Tomlin framed the move less as a personal attack on Harris and more as a coach trying to establish control in the building.
That message seemed to land with the Giants. Harbaugh had been getting plenty of heat for the team’s rushing issues earlier in the season, and the pressure spiked after Week 6, when Cam Skattebo, their most impactful back, didn’t get a rushing carry at all.
Then Week 7 brought a different story. Skattebo ran for 124 yards, Devin Singletary added 41 more, and Harris was left watching at home. The Giants’ record moved to 4-2-1 through seven games.
Tomlin’s comments also echoed the same blunt, unfiltered style Steelers fans know well from his 19 seasons in Pittsburgh. Now in his post-coaching role, he has more room to say the quiet part out loud - and on Sunday Night Football, he did exactly that.
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Semaias path since leaving Pittsburgh has taken him into the NFL, where he now serves as vice president of stadium relations for the Buffalo Bills. His recognition also places him alongside Syracuses Oren Lyons as one of two honorees, a reminder that the reach of the leagues award can extend well past current campuses and into the broader work of people who helped shape those programs from within. [Read more 🡒]