Returning for his 18th season in charge of the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Mike Tomlin remains one of the best coaches in the NFL, period. He hasn’t had a losing season once in his career, consistently has his team in the playoff picture and remains widely respected across the NFL landscape.
But, his star is diminishing just a bit, the further and further he gets from playoff success.
Tomlin last won a playoff game in 2016, and while he ranked as the No. 5 head coach in the NFL from Pro Football Focus earlier this summer and was No. 9 in the NFL in CBS Sports’ ranking on Thursday morning, Tomlin finds himself in some uncomfortable company entering the 2024 season, based on big-game resumes.
In a ranking from CBS Sports, Tomlin is 11th in big-game resume entering the 2024 season, and is in the same conversation of “Endangered Champions” with Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
“Tomlin is unique in that he’s both 1.) already entrenched as an all-timer, and 2.) still widely respected as one of the game’s best motivators,” CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin writes regarding Tomlin’s ranking. “Even so, his Steelers have proven more scrappy than special for a long time now. Since an AFC title-game bid in 2017, he’s gone 0-4 in playoff games over the last six years.”
There’s no doubt that Tomlin is entrenched as an all-timer as a head coach. He already has a Super Bowl title under his belt, an appearance in a second Super Bowl and is on pace to become the winningest head coach in Steelers history, which is quite the feat to surpass Chuck Noll, a Hall of Famer in his own right.
Tomlin is also an outstanding motivator, one that seemingly gets the most out of his teams each and every year, especially recently with the Steelers having a lack of talent in key areas that hindered them a bit, most notably at quarterback. Of course, it’s important to point out that Tomlin had a hand in that lack of talent at the QB position, considering he was on board with the signing of Mitch Trubisky, the drafting of Kenny Pickett and failing to give Mason Rudolph another chance until he was out of options.
Entering Year 18, Tomlin has the resume to put up against almost anyone in the coaching industry today, outside of Bill Belichick and Andy Reid. But he has to get over the hump in the playoffs once again, because things seem to be getting a bit stale from that aspect, and frustrations are mounting.
That’s why he finds himself in the “Endangered Champions” section of Benjamin’s rankings.
Tomlin has a good roster to work with now. It’s on him to get the most out of it and get over the hump once again.
