After some good-natured ribbing of their college football conference by Mike Tomlin earlier this week, Pittsburgh Steelers players from the MAC got the last laugh on their head coach with their 27-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
A couple days before his undefeated Steelers took on the one-win Jaguars, coach Mike Tomlin tried to illustrate the parity in the NFL, even if the records don’t always show it.
“We are not a Big Ten team playing a MAC opponent this week,” he said Tuesday. “Every time we step into a stadium, we are playing professionals, players and coaches, and we have a ridiculous level of respect for that.”
Mike Tomlin and the MAC guys 😂
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) November 22, 2020
Remember, earlier this week he said the Steelers going to play the Jaguars wasn't a "Big Ten team playing a MAC opponent."
Cc: @MACSports
(Via Robert Spillane's IG) pic.twitter.com/240nVST5yV
Naturally, some of his MAC products, most notably his quarterback, took exception to Tomlin’s comparison.
“I haven’t had a chance to get him yet,” said Ben Roethlisberger, who went to Miami (Ohio). “He mentioned it again in the team meeting, too, and I wasn’t too happy about that. I will get him back, don’t worry. I have to figure out what conference William & Mary is in. We will say something about that.”
And after beating the Jaguars, the MAC alums -- Ola Adeniyi (Toledo), Robert Spillane (Western Michigan), Roethlisberger, Diontae Johnson (Toledo), and Chuks Okorafor (Western Michigan) -- posed with their head coach in the locker room.
Spillane posted the picture to his Instagram story with the caption, “MAC guys.”