Unique to the Pittsburgh Steelers across all major sports is the fact that they have only had three head coaches since 1969. Chuck Noll took over that year and served as the head coach until 1992. Then came Bill Cowher from 1992 to 2007. Both of them are now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In a recent interview, former Steelers GM Kevin Colbert discussed how Mike Tomlin came to be hired, offering high praise to him in the process.
“Coach Noll, Coach Cowher, and Coach Tomlin, all great NFL head coaches. Two Hall of Famers, and I believe a third Hall of Famer when his career is over,” Colbert said via 1 TEAM Media’s YouTube channel on an episode of the Brian Hess Show. “The one common denominator is they were young defensive coordinators from outside the organization. And when we went into that process, we didn’t have that thought in mind, but that was the one thing that came back.”
In a league that is increasingly favoring high-powered offenses, the Steelers have always been an organization that prides itself on defense. Starting with the Steel Curtain days of the 1970s, to the Blitzburgh units of the 90s and the Dick LeBeau-led groups in the 2000s to today — Pittsburgh has been synonymous with defense.
It fits the personality of the city, being a blue-collar factory town from the days of old, and that gritty mentality is personified by the defenses that the team has fielded over the years.
Colbert talked about the decision to hire Tomlin in 2007 when he seemingly came out of nowhere as a relatively unknown young defensive coordinator to succeed Cowher.
“Mike was just very impressive right outta the gate,” Colbert said. “The one distinguishing piece of his makeup was his willingness to adapt to the team that he would be coaching. I’ll never forget him saying…we were a 3-4 base defense and coach Tomlin, I’ll never forget in the interview process…he goes, ‘We’re gonna be a 3-4 team because you have a great coordinator in coach Dick LeBeau. I’m not changing, I will adapt to him.'”
Tomlin had previously acted as the defensive backs coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2001-05, and then as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 before accepting the head coach job in Pittsburgh. Both of those teams employed 4-3 base defenses.
His willingness to adapt worked out for him as in just his second season, Tomlin became the youngest head coach in league history at the time to win a Super Bowl. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Tomlin has received growing criticism over the last decade as he has failed to take his team back to the Super Bowl or see much playoff success over that time. That being said, he has managed to keep his team at or above .500 for 17-straight seasons. That includes the year Ben Roethlisberger was injured and the two seasons since he retired. You don’t achieve that feat, or the longevity of his career, without being able to adapt to the talent you have and get the most out of the roster.
Tomlin is currently tied for the 11th-most wins of all time with Jeff Fisher at 173. He is well on his way to following Noll and Cowher into the Hall of Fame.
