Mark Madden: Overthinking, or not thinking, is common for football coaches

Coaches too often overthink. Or don’t think at all. Maybe they’re just idiots.

Mike Tomlin is likely guilty of overthinking when he places rookie Broderick Jones behind the very pedestrian Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle on the Steelers’ depth chart.

The Steelers traded up to draft Jones 14th overall. That player should come in and make immediate impact. If he can’t, the Steelers picked the wrong guy. Moore has experience, but most of it is bad.

But they’ve got it a lot dumber in other places.

In Washington, Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy stands accused of being too tough on his players, who then complained to head coach Ron Rivera.

We know that because Rivera told us.

Rivera inexplicably made public a narrative that depicts Bieniemy as a bully and makes his players look soft. It’s reopened discussion about Bieniemy, who is African American, not getting a head coaching job despite crazy success as the offensive coordinator at Kansas City. Bieniemy is also a candidate to ultimately replace Rivera, so Rivera’s motive can be questioned.

It’s option C with Rivera. He’s an idiot.

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Same goes at Northwestern University.

Coaches and staff members donned T-shirts that say “Cats Against The World” and feature No. 51, the number worn by fired head coach Pat Fitzgerald when he played at Northwestern. Fitzgerald got sacked in the wake of a lurid hazing scandal.

The protest suggests that Fitzgerald and the program were somehow wronged. As if sexual abuse disguised as team bonding is part of football and should be tolerated. Interim coach David Braun said, “It’s not my business to censor anyone’s free speech.” Braun is either spineless or agrees with the T-shirt’s message.

Those T-shirts suggest the same vibe remains at Northwestern and that the upperclassmen have held onto their Purge masks. It’s beyond tone deaf. Can’t picture that it helps recruiting, either.

Northwestern needs more change than has already occurred. Maybe shut down the program since those in charge clearly don’t get it.

Cats Against The World, huh? Northwestern was 1-11 last season. The world won.

Sean Payton is in his first year coaching the Denver Broncos. He said that his predecessor, Nathaniel Hackett, did “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.” Hackett is now offensive coordinator with the New York Jets. Denver and the Jets play in Week 5. Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers fired back. (Of course, he did.)

Payton might not have been wrong. At any rate, he was trying to switch the heat from his quarterback, Russell Wilson, who was awful last year and might be washed up.

Payton later issued some bizarre rules for the Broncos’ first preseason game: Players must remain in uniform after being pulled; no interviews during the game; no sunglasses; no “Gilligan hats.”

By “Gilligan hats,” Payton means bucket hats. I’m reminded that Fez from “That ’70s Show” pronounced Gilligan with a soft G: “Jilligan.”

Payton isn’t coming off like a disciplinarian. More like a weirdo reminiscent of Urban Meyer at Jacksonville. (I stole that off the internet somewhere.) None of those things is important enough to make formal rules about.

If Tomlin had those rules, Antonio Brown might have broken all of them in a single sitting. Then again, Brown doesn’t seem the type to don a “Gilligan hat.” Not fashionable.