The Pittsburgh Steelers announced they have extended head coach Mike Tomlin’s contract for 3 more years. His new current contract will keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2024 season.
Tomlin’s contract extension might not be a surprise, but it does come a bit off schedule as the Steelers typically have extended their coaches during the summer, either shortly before or during training camp.
The decision also indicates that Mike Tomlin will oversee at least the beginning of the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. Mike Tomlin’s last extension mirrored Ben Roethlisberger’s, leading to speculation that Tomlin, Roethlisberger and Kevin Colbert would simultaneously retire.
- That appears far less likely now.
In a prepared statement Art Rooney II extolled his 14 year head coach:
Mike is one of the most successful head coaches in the National Football League. We are confident in his leadership to continue to lead our team as we work to win another championship.
If Mr. Rooney were to poll the citizens of Steelers Nation, he’d undoubtedly find disagrees. Indeed, the dissenters would be many, and they would be vocal. They would also be wrong.
The Steelers have extended Mike Tomlin’s contract by 3 years. Photo Credit: markybillson.medium.com
Debunking the Case Against Mike Tomlin
Mike Tomlin has one ring from Super Bowl XLIII, two AFC Championships, 7 AFC North Championships, 9 playoff appearances while compiling a 145-78-1 regular season record while never suffering a losing season. Only once, on Tomlin’s watch have the Steelers been eliminated from the playoffs before the season’s final game.
Yet for all that, based on social media reaction you’d think resume was on par Rod Rust’s 1990 campaign in New England.
Let’s debunk some of the charges leveled against Tomlin:
“No Playoff Wins in 4 Years.”
Pittsburgh’s playoff record since Super Bowl XLV certainly strings. Those last two home playoff losses sucked.
But if that’s your argument against Mike Tomlin then ask yourself this one question – would you feel different if he’d racked up a bunch of AFC Championship losses?
Seriously.
- Bill Cowher won playoff games a plenty between 1992 and 2004.
Chuck Noll & Bill Cower after the last game at Three Rivers Stadium. Photo via 6th Ring.com
Yet the knock on Cowher was, “He can’t win the big one.” After he suffered his 2nd humiliating Heinz Field AFC Championship defeat to the Patriots in 2004, there was no shortage of fans who felt he should be fired. Fortunately, Dan Rooney ignored them and the Steelers won Super Bowl XL a year later.
“He only won with Bill Cowher’s players.”
Really? Well, by that measure, Bill Cowher started losing in the late 1990’s when Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd, Dermontti Dawson and Carnell Lake, the Hall of Famers/All Pros he inherited from Chuck Noll, either left or started fading. He only became a champion after a franchise QB (whom he didn’t really want to pick) dropped in his lap.
And if we’re using a predecessor’s success to discredit a successor, then let’s also acknowledge that Kevin Colbert only won with Tom Donahoe’s players.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to go there either.
“He’s had 10 YEARS to Rebuild Since Super Bowl XLV”
True. Very true. It’s also true that rebuilding around a franchise QB is hard. Don Shula went to the Super Bowl in ’82, got his franchise QB in ’83, went to another Super Bowl in ’84 and never sniffed another. Shula is generally recognized as one of the top 3 coaches of all time….
“BUT Tomlin’s had a franchise QB his ENTIRE career. And he’s ONLY won ONE Super Bowl.”
Number don’t lie. This is true. But tell me:
- How many Super Bowls did Sean Peyton win with Drew Brees?
- Mike McCarthy had Brett Favre and then Aaron Rodgers. How many rings does he wear?
- Pete Carroll is a fine coach. Russell Wilson is a great QB. How many trophies do they have?
- And, by the way, how did that Legion of Boom dynasty pan out?
Tom Coughlin did win two Super Bowl rings and he beat the Patriots to get his. Give the man credit. He also closed his chapter in New York with 3 straight losing seasons.
Would Steelers Nation trade 7-9 and twin 6-10 records for another Lombardi? We might. Throw in a playoff win over the Patriots, and I probably take that deal.
But it still shows how hard it is to sustain winning after a championship run. Oh, and how has New York done since kicking Coughlin to the curb?
Give Tomlin the Criticism Deserves and the Credit He’s Earned
Is Mike Tomlin’s record beyond reproach? Hardly.
Tomlin teams get tripped up by trap games too often. Sure, there are some mitigating circumstances in some cases. But it has happened too often to dismiss as chance.
Has he stubbornly run running backs like Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall, and Le’Veon Bell into the ground while failing to staff adequate back up depth? Yes sir! This scuttled two if not 3 playoff runs.
- Is his clock management questionable? Well, no, I think it’s actually pretty good.
But has wiffing on picks like Jarvis Jones and Artie Burns set the rebuild behind? Absolutely.
Does he let loyalty and personal relationships cloud his decisions on assistants? Yes, at times it seems he does.
These faults are real. But this is also real: No other coach Bill Belichick and arguably Tom Coughlin has been better than Mike Tomlin during the Tom Brady era.
