Over the last several episodes, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks have been ranking position groups across each division. More times than not, the hardest decisions were made in the AFC North. The league’s closest and most competitive division, it’s no wonder NFL Films is sending camera crews to cover it all. When it came down to the best head coach, Jeremiah and Brooks went in opposite directions on who took the top spot – Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin or Baltimore’s John Harbaugh?
Brooks went with Tomlin. Jeremiah went with Harbaugh.
“I ended up going with Harbaugh over Tomlin,” Jeremiah said during the AFC North segment. “It’s obviously very close. Both guys with long track records. I think they’d might be the two longest-tenured in the NFL…I think Harbaugh, I give him the edge there just because I think he’s been a little quicker to adjust and adapt and morph. Obviously way ahead of the curve with what they did with Lamar Jackson.”
In terms of time spent coaching one team, Tomlin and Harbaugh occupy the top two spots now that Bill Belichick is out of the game. Tomlin was hired in 2007, Harbaugh 2008, and they’ve been battling it out ever since. In fact, Tomlin-Harbaugh matchups are among the most in NFL coaching history. The only coaches who have faced each other more often than the 35 times Tomlin and Harbaugh have are Green Bay’s Curly Lambeau and Chicago’s George Halas’ 49, two legendary names in football.
Jeremiah admitted there’s no “bad apple” in the division but his tiebreaker is fair. Baltimore has been more forward thinking in analytics while Harbaugh and the Ravens found their next quarterback, making a smooth switch from Joe Flacco to Lamar Jackson. The one thing Tomlin hasn’t done is draft and develop his own quarterback, still searching for answers post-Ben Roethlisberger. The Ravens have also found more recent playoff success, though they still have only two postseasons wins since 2017.
Brooks didn’t expand much on his commentary but put Tomlin over Harbaugh. He, like Jeremiah, ranked Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski third and Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor fourth.
There’s a case to be made for any of these four to take the top spot. Stefanski has turned the Browns’ franchise around and won Coach of the Year twice, including this past year. Taylor is the most recent coach in the division to take his team to a Super Bowl and came oh-so-close to winning it. Tomlin and Harbaugh have resumes that speak for themselves. No matter if you examine roster or coaches, the AFC North is a nail biter.
