Mike Tomlin has been winning since 2007 and hasn’t stopped yet. Since taking over as the Steelers’ head coach in 2007, Tomlin has taken Pittsburgh to the postseason 11 times, won seven AFC North titles, and secured one Super Bowl trophy.
He’s never had a losing season and continues to elevate average teams to higher levels of expectations.
Tomlin’s 31-17 wild card loss to the Buffalo Bills was disappointing but expected. Despite the loss, the season was a win for Tomlin’s legacy in more ways than one. Tomlin had to work wonders with this Steelers team to get them into a position to even make the playoffs. His ability to rally the troops and squeeze every ounce of talent out of them was a testament to his elite coaching abilities.
No Elite Quarterback In Pittsburgh
The common discussion surrounding the Steelers since the departure of future Hall of Fame QB Ben Roethlisberger has been about its never-ending search for a franchise QB.
Second-year player Kenny Picket has been wildly inconsistent, and Tomlin was forced to go against a stout Bills defense with journeyman Mason Rudolph, whose result reflected that of his team. Rudolph played with the guts of a champion, but his talent fell short of the game-changing variety.
Tomlin’s value as a leader of men and locker-room communicator had a lot to do with any positive performance that he was able to get out of Rudolph.
However, fans and media continue to ask Tomlin about his future with Pittsburgh as if his track record and the fact that the Rooney family has only had three head coaches since 1969 (Chuck Knoll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin) doesn’t already let you know that the franchise is happy with a perennial winner.
Mike Tomlin Is Beloved By His Players
Tomlin’s players always have his back, and Cam Heyward, the player who has been with Tomlin the longest, lashed out at the media for questioning the coach about his future before he could even decompress from a tough season and playoff loss.
“Why are we so concerned with somebody that has a year on their contract, has been locked in, and has just wanted to coach football?” Heyward said, via ESPN. “We don’t ask anybody else if they need to come back for another year or anything else.
“I just think it’s doing him a disservice. This guy’s been locked in from the very get go, but yet we’re worried about if he’s coming back or not. He’s been locked in, and I appreciate it, because that’s only created more dissension for players and coaches. We only want to focus on one goal. He just wants to focus on one goal, and I just think that’s fair to him.”
The Steelers franchise clearly values Tomlin, whose 173-career regular season wins makes him 11th all time and his .633 winning percentage is up there as well.
Mike Tomlin Made $12.5M In 2023
Tomlin made $12.5 million last season while overseeing a flawed roster, juggling egos and having no real No. 1 quarterback to lead the offense. An offensive coordinator still needs to be hired, and a quarterback still needs to be found, so Tomlin will enter next season with the same problems if the front office doesn’t open the checkbook and give him the pieces he needs to build a championship-caliber team.
If Tomlin did leave Pittsburgh without being fired, his new contract would surely be one of the highest ever for a head coach. He can only do so much without the team making some necessary upgrades.
Mike Tomlin Should Be Highest-Paid NFL Head Coach
Tomlin is the longest-tenured head coach in the game and probably should be the highest -paid, but going into the 2024 season, according to Sportico, he ranks third in salary behind Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton ($18M) and LA Rams head coach Sean McVay ($14M), who is the second-youngest coach in the NFL at 37, now that Jerod Mayo, who is a month younger, has taken over in New England.
Last season, Tomlin was fifth, as Bill Belichick took in $20 million per at the top of the list and former Seahawks coach Carroll raked in $15 million in his final season at the helm.
Payton had a disastrous season with Russell Wilson and eventually tried to lie about benching him.
Both McVay and Payton have Super Bowl wins, but their body of work can’t touch Tomlin’s consistency. McVay made the playoffs this season, but his teams have underachieved since winning the Super Bowl, going 15-19 since 2021.
In addition, McVay and Payton had Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks even during losing seasons. Sean Payton had five losing seasons with Drew Brees and Rusell Wilson at the helm. McVay has had Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford to lead his offenses.
With Belichick and Carroll retired for now, Tomlin, 51 and entering his 18th season in 2024, is the OG of the NFL coaching carousel and needs to be paid like it.
