Mike Tomlin didn’t win this year’s Coach of the Year Award, he wasn’t even a finalist, but he did pick up a handful of votes. As tweeted by the AP’s Rob Maaddi, Tomlin received three votes for the top three spots, one second-place vote and two third-place votes. He did not receive a first-team vote.
Here’s a look at the finally tally.
New York Giants’ Brain Daboll narrowly edged out the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan for the award. Tomlin ultimately finished in tenth place.
The Steelers went just 9-8 this year and missed the playoffs. But they turned their season around. Sitting at 2-6 at the bye and 3-7 after losing their rematch to the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh went 7-2 after the bye and won their final four games. They nearly made the playoffs and had the New York Jets beaten the Miami Dolphins in Week 18, the Steelers would’ve entered the postseason as the 7th seed.
This was Tomlin’s first season without Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback. He guided a young and new offensive line while dealing with the loss of T.J. Watt defensively. Pittsburgh finished third in a competitive AFC behind Cincinnati and Baltimore. They’ll look to get back to the postseason next year and win their first playoff game since 2016. There will certainly be a weight of expectations to do so.
For his career, Tomlin is 163-93-2 in the regular season. He’s won one Super Bowl and appeared in another.
Other coaches to receive votes included Doug Pederson, Sean McDermott, Nick Sirianni, Kevin O’Connell, Dan Campbell, Andy Reid, and Pete Carroll.
