The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks to keep their playoff hopes alive heading into the final week of the 2023 season. With the win, they also secured another non-losing season for head coach Mike Tomlin. This extends his streak to 17 seasons. He already holds the most consecutive non-losing seasons to start a career as a head coach.
This also moves him one step closer to the overall record for a head coach having consecutive non-losing seasons. Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots was .500 or better in 19 consecutive seasons from 2001-2019 before ending the streak in 2020, his first season without QB Tom Brady. Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys has the record with 21-consecutive non-losing seasons from 1965-1985. Tomlin still has a way to go, but he sits among some impressive company at the top of the list and just passed George Halas, who had 16-straight non-losing seasons.
Tomlin’s span consists almost entirely of Ben Roethlisberger leading the team at the quarterback position, but he has managed to extend two seasons (and counting) beyond that. Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season. The post-Roethlisberger era has gotten off to a rocky start, but Tomlin has managed to keep the team competitive. Another interesting fact to pair with this is that the Steelers haven’t played a meaningless game since 2012. They are consistently entering the final week of the season with at least one possible scenario to make the playoffs, and this season is no exception.
The streak extends prior to Tomlin’s tenure as well. Bill Cowher’s last three seasons as head coach were all .500 or better. The last time the Steelers had a losing record was all the way back in 2003. They parlayed that record into the selection of Roethlisberger in the 2004 NFL Draft. The team’s 20-season active streak is the second longest of all-time behind Landry’s Cowboys and his 21-season streak.
Tomlin’s win-loss record as a head coach is 172-100-2 (.632) and he has qualified for the playoffs in 10 of his 17 seasons. His playoff record is 8-9 (.471) and he has appeared in two Super Bowls with one win. Tomlin’s non-losing streak is impressive, no doubt, but critics point to the lack of playoff success as a blemish on his resume. Either way you slice it, Tomlin has one of the best records as a head coach in NFL history and is currently tied with Bill Parcells for the 13th-most wins in league history. He is well on his way to someday getting inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, like Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll before him.
