When the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to 7-7 on the season after three straight rather embarrassing losses, the outside noise and criticism regarding head coach Mike Tomlin reached a crescendo.
There were questions on whether he should be brought back for the 2024 season, along with questions of whether he lost the locker room and his message got stale.
But then, the Steelers rallied down the stretch, winning three straight games after turning to backup quarterback Mason Rudolph. Now, the Steelers are in the playoffs, and the praise for Tomlin and the coaching job that he did is pouring in.
Longtime sports analyst Michael A. Smith, on his NBC Sports show with co-host Michael Holley, called “Brother From Another,” praised the job that Tomlin did in the 2023 season, getting the Steelers to 10-7 on the season and into the playoffs.
“I can’t imagine Mike Tomlin has done a better coaching job than the one he did this year,” Smith said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “…Like, you can’t have a credible conversation of best coaches of his era and not mention that man, because I mean, a player’s coach when you’re struggling tends to have a negative connotation. He’s been consistently who he is and they’ve consistently won or not lost, whatever people prefer, consistently won over the years with him just being him and players following him.”
The players do follow him, and the performance from the Steelers down the stretch, winning the final three games of the season and putting themselves in a position to make the playoffs, is proof of that. Though they needed outside help and got that from the Tennessee Titans, the Steelers did what they set out to do this season, which was to get into the playoffs and see what happens.
On paper, they might not look all that dangerous, but the style of football they are playing currently has them looking like a tough team to deal with, especially with the ground-and-pound style they’ve leaned on in the last few weeks, imposing their will against teams.
Though it’s been ugly at times this season and rather frustrating in other parts, the fact remains the Steelers are 10-7 and in the playoffs. Even when things were falling apart, and the coaching staff needed a shake-up, leading to the firing of offensive coordinator Matt Canada in November, the team continued to believe in Tomlin’s message and followed their coach weekly.
It paid off, and quite honestly, the coaching job Tomlin did this season matches the 2019 job that he did, though the record is much better. That season, Tomlin led the Steelers to an 8-8 season with Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges starting games in place of the injured Ben Roethlisberger. This season, the Steelers went through three starting quarterbacks and dealt with a number of injuries defensively, and found a way to 10-7.
For Smith, that’s because of Tomlin.
“Najee Harris said to me, and he said it publicly: they’re not 10 and seven in spite of Mike Tomlin. They’re 10 and seven because of Mike Tomlin,” Smith added. “If not for Mike Tomlin, God only knows where they would be and what they would be.”
Players have consistently praised Tomlin down the stretch, and rightfully so. He led them through the storm and has them in the postseason. That’s quite an accomplishment.
Unfortunately, it’s very unlikely to garner any Coach of the Year attention for the longtime head coach and future Hall of Famer. That’s just how it goes. But it doesn’t take away from the job Tomlin did this season.
