Mike Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl in 2008 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was in just his second year on the job at that point. The only problem is he has coached 15 more seasons without adding to the trophy case.
Sure, he got to another Super Bowl in 2010, and reached the AFC Championship Game for a third time in 2016. But you don’t get the coveted Lombardi for second or third place. Despite what it may seem to those on the outside, DL Cameron Heyward insists that’s still what drives Tomlin.
“You look at what he does, he’s consistent. His message stays consistent. He resonates with his players”, Heyward said on NFL Total Access yesterday. “All he cares about is winning more Super Bowls. He doesn’t go into a season expecting anything less, and when he states that from the very beginning, you know where you stand, you know where it comes from, and he’s challenging you on and off the field. I think that’s how he gets the best out of his players”.
The Steelers are tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowls titles in NFL history with six. The San Francisco 49ers can join them on Sunday if they defeat the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots only had three the last time Pittsburgh won, though San Francisco has been stuck on five for decades. As have the Dallas Cowboys.
Not only have Tomlin’s Steelers failed to claim another Super Bowl since 2008, the reality is they haven’t come close in a long time. The last time they reached the conference finals in 2016 is also the last time they won a playoff game. That’s a stunningly long seven-year dry spell, the longest in franchise history. And tied for the fifth-longest by a coach with one franchise in the Super Bowl era. That’s partly because coaches don’t keep their jobs very long without playoff wins.
Yet owner Art Rooney II still insists that Tomlin is the man for the job. He reiterated those sentiments multiple times since the season ended. The Steelers are already working toward extending his contract, which currently runs through 2024.
I do believe Heyward when he says that all Tomlin cares about is winning Super Bowls. Everything he does is in an effort toward that goal. Winning seasons and division titles and accolades are just steps along the way.
I also believe that nobody is more miserable than Tomlin at the end of seasons when the Steelers don’t win. Fans certainly don’t like it, but Tomlin is the one who gets the blame—including from himself. But doesn’t everybody try to win the Super Bowl?
Sure, a lot of great coaches never win it, or only win it once. But Tomlin and the Steelers haven’t come very close in quite a while. And I’m not sure we have a ton of reason for optimism for the immediate future. The instability of the quarterback position is a glaring issue going into 2024. It’s hard to conceive of a title contender without a settled quarterback room.
