If fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers were in charge, head coach Mike Tomlin may have been run out of town years ago. But if you ask almost anybody else, he is among the best in the business. The Associated Press released their annual top 5 head coach rankings today, and Tomlin remained in the No. 4 spot where he was last season.
“The Steelers haven’t had a losing season in Tomlin’s 17 seasons. They finished 10-7 last season and made the playoffs despite using three starting quarterbacks,” AP’s Rob Maaddi wrote. “Tomlin won a Super Bowl in his second year and lost one in his fourth but his team is 0-4 in the playoffs since 2016.”
Maaddi personally had Tomlin in the No. 5 spot, but this AP list is an aggregate score of a panel of eight AP writers.
I will concede, however, that Tomlin absolutely must improve his recent playoff track record. Excuses can be made for each of those four losses, but every team is dealing with issues late in the season. Team president Art Rooney II expressed a growing level of impatience about the playoff win drought but then turned around and gave Tomlin a three-year extension that keeps him with the team through 2027.
At the end of the day, Tomlin has provided a very solid floor of competitive football for the Steelers over the years. Even when they perhaps should have had a losing season, like in 2019 with Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph, he kept them competitive until the last game. They haven’t had a meaningless game since 2012, so they are always at least in the playoff hunt until the final week of play.
The team made some pretty significant changes this offseason. As everybody gets used to the new offensive system or the new faces in the huddle, there might be growing pains. But if you stack the rosters up side-by-side, you would have a hard time finding a position where they got worse this offseason. The most notable change is at quarterback, with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields now holding down the top two spots. Wilson had some disappointing seasons, by his standards, with the Denver Broncos, but he will be looking to turn things around under Tomlin in Pittsburgh.
The offensive line has also received significant investment over the last two offseasons, which was another sore spot on the roster over the last several years.
With most excuses out of the way, it is time for Mike Tomlin’s team to take the next step and not only make the playoffs but compete towards the ultimate goal of another Super Bowl championship. If he can’t, I am not sure how much longer he will be viewed as a top coach in the NFL.
Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, and Kyle Shanahan are ahead of Tomlin on the list this year. Harbaugh was in the fifth spot last year and leapfrogged Tomlin. Bill Belichick fell off the list as a currently unemployed coach. Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay came in at the fifth and final spot on the list.
