Just 10 months ago, there was a pretty strong contingent of the fan base and the national media who were assuming it was time for Mike Tomlin to move on from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Especially after the three-game losing streak in December, those voices grew quite loud. Now the Steelers are 6-2 at the midway point of the season, and Tomlin is being viewed as one of the best coaches in the league.
In fact, The Ringer issued some midseason awards and Mike Tomlin won the midseason Coach of the Year.
“Ultimately I landed on Tomlin, who just continues to do Tomlin things,”Sheil Kapadia wrote via The Ringer. “In past years, that meant the Steelers winning ugly, close games that they had no business winning. Nerds like me would constantly point to the Steelers’ unimpressive point differential and say things like, They can’t keep getting away with this! But this year’s Steelers have been different. They are 6-2, and it’s not a fluky 6-2.
“In the AFC, only the Bills have a better point differential. Those results should not be possible when you are navigating a quarterback competition between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. Yet once again, Tomlin has found a way to figure it out. No coach has done more with less through nine weeks.”
Given that many media outlets had the Steelers struggling to get to six or seven wins on the season, they are forced to add Tomlin to the Coach of the Year conversation with the Steelers having six wins at Week 8. He even made a tough decision that was almost unanimously criticized when he benched the 4-2 Justin Fields in favor of Russell Wilson. That decision paid off in a big way with back-to-back games of over 400 total yards on offense and a 2-0 record since then.
There are other deserving candidates. The Steelers’ Week 10 opponent has a pretty strong candidate for the award. Dan Quinn has turned the Washington Commanders from the second worst team in the league to the current No. 2 seed in the NFC. Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur also deserves a mention in this conversation after absorbing Jordan Love’s injury and remaining competitive in the NFC at 6-3.
There is still another half of the season. Things can and will change, but Tomlin is on track to be in heavy consideration for what would be the first Coach of the Year honor in his career. That would be a fitting way to end the year in which many were upset he received a three-year extension.
T.J. Watt was mentioned in The Ringer’s midseason Defensive Player of the Year, but San Francisco 49ers LB Fred Warner ultimately received that distinction.
