Mike Tomlin became the longest-tenured active head coach in the NFL in 2024 when Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots parted ways. One year later, he is now the longest-tenured active head coach in all of American professional sports. Longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has stepped down after a 29-season run with the team. Hat tip to Andrew Siciliano on X for pointing out this impressive stat.
Andy Reid has coached for longer and Pete Carroll, who just returned to the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders, is entering Year 19 just like Tomlin. But neither did it with the same team.
Nipping at Tomlin’s heels is Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. He was hired one season after Tomlin and recently received a contract extension that will keep him with the Ravens one season beyond Tomlin’s current contract. In other words, by the end of their current contracts, they will be tied in their tenures with their respective teams unless Tomlin is given another extension.
Tomlin’s tenure hasn’t been all smooth sailing, especially not as of late. While the Steelers continue to have winning seasons and qualify for the playoffs more often than not, they haven’t won a playoff game in nearly a decade. His most recent playoff loss was to Harbaugh’s Ravens.
Will Tomlin make it all the way to 29 seasons to threaten Popovich’s impressive feat? It’s hard to imagine another 11 seasons of Tomlin, but Steelers ownership has continually backed him through the struggles and the organization obviously values continuity.
During his 29-year run with the Spurs, Popovich won five NBA championships. Tomlin won one Super Bowl in his second season as the head coach and then lost one more Super Bowl appearance in his fourth year. Since then, the Steelers have gone 3-9 in the playoffs. He needs a strong reversal of that trend to earn another contract, let alone three or four of them.
