At the start of the season, many “experts” picked the Steelers to finish last in the AFC North and predicted that Mike Tomlin would have the first losing season in his Hall of Fame career.
Oh, how wrong they were.
This season, Pittsburgh was 4-2 with Justin Fields under center when Tomlin decided to start a finally healthy Russell Wilson. That led to an uproar from many, including myself, who felt that Fields had earned the right to start.
It wasn’t a knock on Wilson, but rather the belief that there was no need for a switch. Fields was giving Pittsburgh something it hadn’t experienced since the days of Kordell Stewart and the team was winning.
But since that switch, the Steelers have gone 6-1, including a bounce-back domination of Cleveland on Sunday.
Pittsburgh is now 10-3, leads the AFC North and is tied with the Bills for the second-best record in the conference. More importantly, they’re silencing critics by showing that they’re one of the best teams in the league.
Their defense continues to lead, forcing turnovers and making stops at crucial moments. The offense continues to improve, and even without George Pickens on Sunday, Wilson still put up 27 points on Cleveland.
Under Russ, the offense has posted 26+ points in five of his seven starts.
Many are claiming that Tomlin has put together one of the best coaching jobs of his career. Others say that it might be his best.
While both hold weight, they also overlook his past.
Tomlin has guided his team to seven division championships, two Super Bowl appearances, and one Lombardi Trophy victory. He has an overall record of 182-103-2 and has never had a losing season in his career since taking over as the Steelers’ third head coach in 2007.
In 2020, the team went 12-4, won the division title and made the postseason where they lost in the first round to the Browns. The venom he received after that loss made it seem like they went 0-16.
A year prior, after losing Ben Roethlisberger in Week 2 to a season-ending elbow injury, Tomlin guided the team to an 8-8 record with quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges.
The disappointing 2019 season marked the FIRST time in Tomlin’s career that the team had been outscored in a season (289-303). Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher had three losing seasons, but Tomlin had only one to that point.
Yet he received little praise outside of keeping his streak of never having a losing season intact, even with Duck Hodges under center.
None of the greatest coaches in NFL history can make that claim.
Not Don Shula (1), George Halas (6), Tom Landry (8), Paul Brown (4), Marty Shottenheimer (2), Dan Reeves (9), Chuck Knox (8), Bill Parcells (5), Tom Coughlin (8), Mike Shanahan (7) or Tony Dungy (1).
Even coaches like Bill Belichick (8), Andy Reid (3), Pete Carroll (4), Sean Payton (5) and John Harbaugh (2) all have losing seasons as well.
The criticism Tomlin has received over the years has ranged from unfair and unwarranted to ridiculous and disrespectful.
Many say Tomlin won his Super Bowl win in the 2008 season with Cowher’s players.
Cowher went 11-5 in his Super Bowl-winning 2005 season, and the following year he went 8-8. When Tomlin took over in 2007, the team went 10-6 and then 12-4, when he won the Super Bowl in Arizona.
Even though the team improved under his guidance, critics diminished his greatness by attributing the victories to Cowher.
Tomlin ranks 11th on the all-time NFL coaching wins list and is second to Andy Reid in wins by an active NFL head coach.
He also holds the distinction of being the winningest Black head coach in NFL history. His 182 wins puts him ahead of Tony Dungy (148), Marvin Lewis (131), Dennis Green (117), and Lovie Smith (92).
His players sing his praises, yet critics still find ways to bash him in ways that others evade, and they conveniently leave him out of discussions about the coaching elite.
On New Year’s Day 2021, FS1’s Colin Herd, while discussing the future of J.J. Watt on The Herd stated, “J.J. Watt has earned the right, and deserves, to play for a Belichick, Andy Reid or Sean Payton.”
Payton ranks 20th with 168 total wins and has one Super Bowl victory like Tomlin. And despite having five losing seasons, Payton gets the nod over Tomlin for some reason.
Last season, some foolishly called for his firing.
In 2023, Tomlin led the Steelers to a 10-7 record with a QB trio of Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky. He also kept the team together during a slew of injuries on defense and still made the postseason.
This year, the Steelers are 10-3 with games remaining against Super Bowl contenders in the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs before finishing with the Bengals.
The Steelers have finally been inserted into the Super Bowl debate and Mike Tomlin has finally entered the Coach of the Year conversation, an award he has never won.
He has been slighted during his career and overlooked for his achievements despite having great seasons.
Last year I wrote “So keep hating on Mike Tomlin. Next season he’ll simply make you look foolish again.”
From the looks of it, I was right.
So if you doubted Mike Tomlin before, how are you feeling now?
