Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, but that hasn’t stopped him from being one of the best coaches in the NFL. When it seemed like most of the league was transitioning into young, offensive minds as head coaches, Tomlin stood tall. He’s lived by his philosophies, for better or worse. Now, it looks like that patience could bear fruit, but Robert Mays of The Athletic still believes Tomlin is holding the Steelers back.
“Even teams like the Steelers, where Mike Tomlin is a fantastic coach, consistently putting that team in the best possible position,” Mays said on a recent episode of The Athletic Football Show. “Your ceiling is inherently going to be capped.
“We talk about what needs to happen and everything else needs to be going right. You look at the Steelers’ talent on defense and what that defense is. That’s the only reason that the Steelers are a viable NFL team right now considering what the state of their offense is, and I like Arthur Smith.”
The point Mays is trying to make is that the teams with the best chance at success have a head coach with an offensive background who have also proven to be great play callers. That doesn’t necessarily feel true, especially for Tomlin. It’s true that offensive-minded head coaches have had some success recently, but so have defensive-minded head coaches.
Last year, DeMeco Ryans, a former NFL linebacker and defensive coordinator, helped the Houston Texans totally turn their fortunes around. Sean McDermott, a former defensive coordinator, has led the Buffalo Bills to great success since he became their head coach. Mike Macdonald, also a former defensive coordinator, has the Seattle Seahawks undefeated through his first three games as a head coach.
Now, Mays isn’t saying that teams can’t win with defensive head coaches, but saying they have a capped ceiling just doesn’t seem true. Only one team can win the Super Bowl every year, and lately, the Kansas City Chiefs have been doing that quite a bit. Part of that is because they have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, but their defense has been outstanding as well.
When Mahomes lost the Super Bowl to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it was partly because of how good the Bucs’ defense was. A team doesn’t need its head coach to have a great background calling plays to be successful. It probably helps, but it doesn’t instantly raise a team’s ceiling.
Also, saying the Steelers wouldn’t be a viable team without their defense seems irrelevant. They’ve built their team to win with an incredible defense and an offense that’s just good enough. Saying they wouldn’t win without their defense is like saying the Chiefs wouldn’t win without Mahomes. It’s obvious because that’s how their team is built.
This year, the Steelers’ offense hasn’t been amazing, but it has been good enough. It has been dealing with a lot of injuries and new parts too, and it still looks better than the 2023 edition. Smith has looked like a great hire so far, and Justin Fields is proving he can still be a starting quarterback. It’s unclear what the Steelers’ ceiling is, but Tomlin has proven before that he shouldn’t be doubted.
