We are in the thick of the NFL playoffs, which also means teams that need a new head coach are busy shopping. And this year, there are a lot of shoppers, after more than 25% of teams said “thank you and goodbye” to the guy they started the season with.
Most of the coaches were fired. Most of them didn’t make the playoffs this year. Most of them didn’t even finish .500. None of that describes Mike Tomlin.
After leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to the team’s 25th division title — eight because of him — he decided to step down after 19 years on the job. Upon hearing the news, the Athletic reported, players became very emotional, including future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was said to be in tears. The players’ response is consistent with Tomlin’s decades-long reputation in the league as a great mentor and friend.
Unfortunately, because we’re all trapped in this what-have-you-done-for-me-lately meets rage-bait world, there is this narrative out there that Tomlin is not an all-time great coach. In fact, some Steelers fans online and former NFL players on podcasts are suggesting he was mediocre because the team hasn’t won a Super Bowl since President Obama’s first month in office. About a third of the league’s teams have won a championship since Tomlin. For the fanbase for teams like the Cleveland Browns or the Arizona Cardinals, a Super Bowl in any year would be enough. However, the Steelers faithful have a different history and higher expectations.
I get it.
That is still no reason to disrespect one of the greatest coaches in league history as he walks out the door. Recency bias typically comes with a dash of amnesia. Sprinkle in the pace of the modern news cycle and the algorithms’ insatiable hunger for outrage, and you can see why people are tempted to say negative things about someone who has never had a losing season. That achievement is not perfection, which is commonly the bar set on social media by naysayers in search of clicks, but it is unequivocal excellence. No other NFL coach with his number of years in charge can make such a claim. That is also true in the NBA, the MLB and the NHL.
The only quarterback the Steelers drafted in the first round during his era, Kenny Pickett in 2022, is currently on his fourth team. For perspective, Brock Purdy, the current San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback, was available. That’s not meant to be a dig at the Steelers front office. Every team has its hits and misses during the NFL draft. That’s just to remind you of Pittsburgh’s decadelong carousel under center. As coach, Tomlin has more seasons using three different starting quarterbacks than he does finishing the year 8-8.
There’s no medal or ring for never having a losing season. However, that accomplishment should always come with respect. Because winning an NFL game has never been easy.
For perspective, in 2022, while the Steelers were busy not drafting a franchise quarterback, former Rams coach Dick Vermeil was inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 15 years, Vermeil had seven losing seasons. Like Tomlin, he has one Super Bowl ring. Vermeil, who was famous for turning teams around in three seasons, left the game with a .525 win percentage. After two decades, Tomlin won 63% of his games, which ranks in the top 10 all time and is the best in Steelers history.
To question if he’s an all-time great isn’t just counterintuitive.
It’s disrespectful. And for what? To generate some content between playoff games? An irrational need to be a contrarian?
There’s more to Tomlin’s story that is being underdiscussed. Less than 2% of all K-12 teachers are Black men. The percentage of Black head football coaches in the top division has never been more than 15. Chances are Tomlin is the first Black man many of his players have ever witnessed be in charge. There have been stretches in which he was the only Black NFL head coach and thus the first person journalists reached out to when it’s time to talk about the Rooney Rule. He’s carried that unspoken responsibility, that invisible weight, quietly for 19 years.
And he did so without ever ending the season having lost more than he won.
Instead of asking if Tomlin is an all-time great, the conversation in the sports world should be focused on how great Tomlin is.
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