There are elite head coaches around the NFL, but the AFC North has two of the best. John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin have led the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers to dominance, respectively. Only a few players have had the honor of playing for both in their career, but Patrick Queen is one of them. The linebacker explained the difference between the two to Cam Heyward.
Queen signed a three-year, $41 million contract with the Steelers in the 2024 offseason. That decision brought an end to his four years spent with the Ravens to start his career. Queen is one of the elite linebackers the NFL has to offer and flourished in Harbaugh's defensive system. He came to the Steelers and had another Pro Bowl season under Tomlin, another defensive genius.
Queen appeared on Heyward's podcast, Not Just Football, to talk about Pittsburgh's upcoming season. However, the defensive stalwarts began speaking about the similarities and differences between Queen's two head coaches. The defensive end asked his teammate to pick one of the two based on who he liked playing for more. According to Queen, the decision is not a hard one.
“Coach T for sure,” Queen said. “But it’s like two different people. I definitely got along with both of them, but Coach T is just like more like how is your fam? The small things that are big to us. Just every single day he’s like that. It’s kind of fun to throw jabs back and forth.”
Harbaugh has received praise from legends like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed for his ability to form relationships with his players. However, it looks like Tomlin is just a bit better. Regardless of their approach, both coaches know how to inspire elite performances from their players. Queen and Heyward hope that Tomlin can keep up his streak of winning seasons this year.
In a division as tough as the AFC North, very little separates the Ravens, Steelers, and the Cincinnati Bengals. In a close game, Tomlin's coaching edge could prove to be the difference.
