When Mike Tomlin was a senior wide receiver at William & Mary, there was a freshman walk-on defensive back that watched every move made by the upperclassman.
Sean McDermott wanted to be like Mike. And he's continued to want to be like Mike for a long time.
Now 45, McDermott is like Tomlin. Both are head coaches in the NFL, Tomlin with the Steelers and McDermott with the Bills. And both are doing an excellent job this season, with both having put their respective teams in position to make the postseason in 2019.
In fact, when the Steelers (8-5) host the Bills (9-4) Sunday night, fifth place in the AFC playoff standings will be on the line at Heinz Field.
Now in his third season with the Bills, McDermott is on the verge of taking the formerly beleaguered franchise to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. And in many ways, Bills fans owe Tomlin for bringing them the 45-year-old head coach.
He saw how Tomlin made the jump from player to grad assistant to assistant at the collegiate level and then to the NFL.
“What Mike did was he gave me a blueprint a little bit for what it looked like,” McDermott said of how Tomlin has helped him in his coaching career. “He was such a role model for a lot of us, myself included, on campus as a younger player. He was a fourth-year senior when I got there so he was a good example for me as well as many others.
“To watch him go off and graduate and begin his coaching career and the way he did it and the way he climbed the ladder, I've always looked at him as kind of an older brother in the profession because of where we started.”
Tomlin might hope he didn't show McDermott the blueprint on how to beat the Steelers.
Neither team has locked up a spot in the postseason as of yet. But if the playoffs began today, both would be in as Wildcard teams. The Steelers can't win the AFC North as the Ravens clinched that title with a win over the Jets Thursday night. But the Bills still have a shot to catch the Patriots (10-3) in the AFC East. Those two meet next weekend at Gillette Stadium.
First, however, comes this game.
The Steelers have dealt with numerous injuries this season, including Ben Roethlisberger, but have won seven of their past eight games to get to this point.
“It’s been tremendous. I am sure Mike would say Kevin (Colbert) and him both have done a phenomenal job," McDermott said. "They have a talented roster. I know they had the injury at the quarterback position. But when you look at the depth of their roster, because they had some other injuries, that’s what you have to do. You have to have depth. Because they have been together for so long, they built that.
"You look at the wide receiver position, the running back position, that speaks of their acumen as football guys.”
Those two positions mentioned by McDermott could get a boost for the Steelers this week. James Conner is expected to return at running back after missing five of the past six weeks with a shoulder injury, while JuJu Smith-Schuster is closer to returning from a knee injury that will sideline him for the fourth straight game. Smith-Schuster could return next week.
But this game will be more about the defenses.
The Bills have won all season with their defense and running game. The Steelers? They've leaned on their defense all season, but the running game has come on in recent weeks as the team has averaged just over 140 yards per game in its past three games.
The Bills rank third in the NFL in total defense. The Steelers are fifth.
It should be a battle of wills between two teams and two head coaches who have nothing but respect for the other.
"Usually, I don’t like to speak about it. It’s not bulletin board material, but we respect it," Steelers linebacker Vince Williams told me. "That’s why I love games like this, because I have so much respect for your opponent. To me, this is way more personal than the games that might be a little chippy because of some slight disrespect. This is just good versus good and who’s going to be the best. You’ve gotta love a dog fight."
The teams are taking the cues from their head coaches.
"I’ve known Sean McDermott for a long time," Tomlin said. "That’s guy is a quality coach. (Defensive coordinator) Leslie Frazier, same thing. They’ve got a relationship that probably spans back 20 years, and you see the product of that type of continuity and that type of understanding, the type of performances that they’re putting out. So, we’re really excited about being in the five-star matchup."
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