Mike Tomlin Named Third-Best Coach In NFL, Praised For Non-Losing Season Streak

IDK

I don’t think there is a single member on this board who is used to mediocrity

There are a majority of us who don’t repetitively ***** about it over and over and over

 

Tomlin gets too much praise for a lone Super Bowl win 15 years ago and getting the bare minimum results from a very talented roster with a HOF qb the past 10 years. I feel guys like Siriani, McDermott, Shanahan, and Mcvay have passed him by.

 

Its a ridiculous notion that Tomlin is CURRENTLY a top 3 HC in the NFL. We have struggled in the postseason since the SB loss to GB, and there just hasn't been enough sustained success with mostly really good teams in that time period. Our last 3 playoff games have been 2 blowouts (once as a home favorite) and a close loss at home in a game where we were heavily favored. Tomlin's credentials are that of a good coach, but I don't believe he is a great coach RIGHT NOW. Has to back it up with some success moving forward (and I think he can do it, just has to make it happen).

 

You make a good point and I don't disagree with you but it's not fair to say that the game against the Browns was a home game since they had no fans in the stadium!!! It was more in a neutral field game

Since 2019, the roster of the steelers was below average, so I can't criticize Tomlin on that....2009,2018 were the two most disappointing seasons in the Tomlin era and 2011,2017 were the two worst playoff losses.

 

Covid or not, it was played at Heinz field. It was a home game. It's unfortunate that we didn't get the "home" atmosphere like usual, but it was still a home game. It also hurt that the two home losses were to Baker Mayfield and Blake Bortles. Two guys who didn't end up being starting caliber NFL QB's. Tebow too.... 100% agree that 2011 and 2017 were the hardest two to swallow.

I am not really criticizing him for his most recent playoff loss (KC was a lot better than us, and it was a good season for us to just get to the playoffs that year) but just overall as a whole since the loss at GB its been underwhelming. I know some injuries to AB and Bell hurt, but we had REALLY good teams in 2011 and 2017, and were also pretty loaded in 2015 and 2016 going 11-5 in each of those years.

I would say for a total career Tomlin is a better coach than Zac Taylor.... would you believe that Zac Taylor has won the same number of playoff games in 2021 and 2022 than Tomlin has since 2009? That is the point I am getting at. Zac Taylor's teams have been good and he has translated it into success much better than Tomlin did from 2014-2019 (Steelers "window"). Tomlin obviously did better at translating success in the previous "window" of 2007-2011. We have another "window" poised to be opening soon if KFP can turn into a good player. What can he do with it? I will say that he has done a great job of minimizing how bad we are in-between "windows". Even if we aren't SB contenders, we are competitive and win enough games to have playoff aspirations even in down years. Something to be said for that.

I get that a lot of the love that Tomlin is due to his body of work and less of his last couple years... but I think its still possible to view Tomlin as a "great" coach for his career even if I don't think he is a "great" coach at this particular moment. He has a HoF resume. He was a better coach 15 years ago than he has been recently. He can turn it around. Only time will tell.

 

They meant 3rd best in AFC north

 

Siriani, McDermott, and Shanahan haven't won anything yet.

 

True but these guys also haven’t been coaching the same team for 16 years like little Mikey has. 1 if not 2 of these guys will win a championship before Mikey gets another playoff win. All 3 of those teams are on the cusp assuming KC doesn’t just pull a NE run. I know the fanboys can’t stand facts and stats but think about this:

In 16 years as HC he won 5 playoff games his first 4 years (while having a loaded inherited previous championship team) in 12 years after (when the majority of his inherited team retired) 3 playoff wins. Chew on that for a bit as we discuss him as a top 2 or 3 Head Coach

 

LOL I know you're joking, but its true.

 

Many forget that but Harbaugh has only 2 playoffs win in his last 10 years or the moment Ed Reed and Ray Lewis were both gone

 

One of those against us you're 100% right though. However, aside from the one 14-2 year (first year starting for Jackson) he hasn't had that many truly great teams. They completely out played the Bengals on the road last year with a back up QB and only lost on a fluke 100 yard fumble return TD on a sneak.

 

We can said the same about Tomlin since 2019...The steelers were also missing key players in some playoffs game in killer B's era like 2014 vs ravens and 2015 vs Broncos

But one thing is sure,next 2 seasons will be crucial for Tomlin.Crucial like it was for Cowher in 2000 and 2001...We need some improvement

 

19-21-1 in his last 41 games played, and 3-8 in his last 11 playoff games played...

Number TWO ranked HC , C'mon!

 

Again. All I can say is every time I ask who's better....besides Bill Belichick, and A. Reid.....I get a whole bunch of names that haven't done anything, or have a worse playoff record. LoL

 

What great teams have the Steelers had lately? That 2017 team was loaded on offense, but the defense wasn't good, it got even worse once Shazier got injured.

 

I didn't claim he was a top 3 HC, I really don't care either , I expect the Steelers to start winning playoff games this year or next.

 

You're mis-remembering, that 2017 team was great. Easily the best team that Tomlin had... The defense wasn't bad, it was actually very good. It led the league in sacks, gave up the 8th fewest TD's, was 8th in INT's, 10th against the run and 5th against the pass.

The 2014 and 2015 teams were very good, but those defenses weren't very good. The 2016 defense was solid and the 2017 defense was very good. The 2010 and 2011 teams were great as well. We lost in the SB in 2010 and then lost to Tebow in 2011.

We had GREAT teams in 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2017... GOOD teams in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2020. AVERAGE teams in 2012,2013, and 2019 (this team would've been good with no injury to Ben), and NOT GOOD teams in 2021 and 2022

 

Well this offense better get a whole lot more dynamic then. I think this year will tell us a lot about what KP can do.

 

I agree with most of this, but I'd rank the 2017 team as good, not great. Remember, Steelers D didn't have to face Rodgers, Luck or Watson that year. They basically sandbagged wins against teams with sub-par QBs. The loss of Shazier earlier in the season was devastating. Fournette and Jags destroyed the Steelers run defense in both regular season and playoff game.

 

Where was that great defense in 2017 against Jacksonville ? I felt that 2011 defense they started to show their age, the back seven lacked playmakers once Troy retired and Shazier got injured.

 

those guys all took over failing - mediocre teams and turned them into powerhouses. McDermott’s winning percentage in the reg season since 16 is 64 percent with a 4-5 playoff record. That’s better than Mike T’s playoff record from 2011 to 2021.

Tomlin inherited a Super Bowl caliber team and kept it going for a few years at least but he never had to resurect a team from the ashes. This is his first chance to do that, so yeah, right now I put those coaches ahead of him. Like I said that Super Bowl win was 15 years ago.

 

Be quiet the Tomlinites do not like facts and will scold you if you keep making sense!

 

The thing is, he did resurrect a team from the ashes, many just didn't know that it happened. After Tomlin won a super bowl and went to another with the core of what everyone calls "Cowher's team", in 2011 the team really started to age out. Tomlin and Colbert basically rebuilt the entire roster. The difference is, Tomlin's teams never went 3-13, 4-12, 5-11, or 6-10 like every other franchise's teams perform. He still had a great QB, and he was able to use the pieces available to him to never hit the bottom like all other teams do. He was able to lead the team to all non-losing seasons and never got those high draft picks.

Unfortunately, the thing that makes him great may have ultimately hurt the team's chances for being better and having a higher talent level because they never lost big. His best coaching was going on and nobody seems to remember that it happened. Having winning seasons with just a quarterback and limited talent doesn't happen a lot in the NFL. Tomlin coached this franchise through a time when pretty much all other teams hit the bottom and have a few years of losing football.

His roster improved and his teams bounced back after that. He had a pretty good run with the Killer B's, but we all know how that turned out and the overall disappointment of seeing them underachieve for a variety of reasons. Injuries, suspensions, Ryan Shazier, Martaveous Bryant, etc...

To me, now that Ben retired and Tuitt retired early for tragic reasons, the roster is once again being completely retooled around guys like Heyward, Watt, and Minkah on defense. Everywhere else is youth. The entire offensive line has been replaced. Almost all new WRs and TE's, and a new QB. All within a couple seasons. The rebuild is nearly complete and the roster is strong again.

This team is ready to roll and should continue to get stronger as the young players develop and improve. If he doesn't lead this team to significant improvement over the next 2 seasons and some playoff wins, I think there is a good chance he will be gone...but everyone should appreciate the job he did avoiding the horrible losing seasons ALL OTHER TEAMS and their fans go through. We didn't.