Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has never won the AP Coach of the Year award despite being one of the most consistent coaches in the NFL during his tenure with Pittsburgh. Cameron Heyward thinks it’s “really funny” that Tomlin has never been recognized. During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Heyward said that Tomlin cares more about winning a Lombardi and that the players need to continue to “answer the call” for him.
“I think that’s really funny that he hasn’t won yet, but he could care less about that. His ultimate goal is to hold that sticky Lombardi,” Heyward said. “We gotta make sure he looks right, and we make sure we play our style of ball. He does a hell of a job preparing us. It’s just us answering the call for him.”
Tomlin said earlier this season that not winning Coach of the Year doesn’t bother him because it’s usually awarded to a team that surpasses expectations. Tomlin always wants to hold the Steelers to a higher standard and not have them be a “surprise” team, so he’s perfectly content without a Coach of the Year award.
This season, though, the Steelers might be considered more of a surprise than in past seasons. At 9-3, there were some serious questions about Pittsburgh and how they would perform this season with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as quarterbacks. Still, Pittsburgh has outperformed their preseason expectations and looks to be one of the better teams in the league at this point.
It would make sense if Tomlin finally won the award this year, and Mike Florio believes that the AFC North in-season Hard Knocks will help bolster his candidacy for the award. The ultimate goal for the Steelers is success in the postseason, though, something they haven’t had recently. It’s nearing a decade since the Steelers have won in the playoffs, and making a playoff run will be a lot more important to Tomlin and the Steelers than a regular season coaching award.
While Tomlin might deserve to win, it’s not and shouldn’t be the focus, and the Steelers have to continue to band together and play their best football down the stretch. With the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, and Kansas City Chiefs due up after their Week 14 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, it’s a stretch in Pittsburgh’s schedule that will undoubtedly be difficult but will also be telling as to just how good the Steelers are. If they come away from that stretch with a winning record, there will be confidence in them being able to make a run.
It is funny that the longest-tenured active coach in the league hasn’t actually won a Coach of the Year award, but it’s just not something that matters or is indicative of long-term success in the coaching industry. Sustained winning and making playoff runs are, and that’s what the Steelers and Tomlin need to accomplish this season.
