Perhaps Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin should have been better prepared for headset malfunctions before playing the New England Patriots on Thursday night.
That’s what Bill Belichick would have done, according to an anecdote buried in The Washington Post’s feature on the Patriots head coach.
“During Super Bowl XLVI, in 2012, the Patriots’ headsets malfunctioned in the second half, leading to harmful miscommunication,” Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post wrote. “And so, in the week leading into last season’s Super Bowl, Belichick stopped practice and shouted for the coaches to drop their headsets.”
Tomlin caused a stir after the Patriots beat the Steelers 28-21, when he said his team always experiences communication issues at Gillette Stadium. Tomlin appeared upset when explaining his team was listening to the Patriots’ radio broadcast for the first half of the game.
Belichick said communication mishaps occur almost weekly to the Patriots. They also were experiencing complications with their headsets during the NFL Kickoff game.
The NFL later cleared the Patriots of any wrongdoing, blaming an electrical issue for the problem.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
