Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin has been at the helm for 16 years now. He’s yet to have a below-.500 season in his tenure, although that is at risk this season. With two games remaining, the Steelers sit at 7-8 with slim-to-none playoff odds. Many fans have targeted Tomlin as their subject of criticism, with some even calling for his job.
According to Sports Illustrated, Tomlin currently ranks in the top-five amongst highest-paid coaches in all of sports. In fact, four of the top five coaches come from the NFL, America’s most popular sport by a resounding amount. Tomlin does rank fifth, sitting behind fellow NFL coaches in Bill Belichick, Sean McVay, and Pete Carroll.
This certainly won’t make the haters happy. McVay, who ranks third on the list, is the shortest-tenured coach in the top-five, as he’s been coach of the Los Angeles Rams for just six years. Belichick and Gregg Popovich, two legends in their respective sports, have been with their teams for over 25 years. Andy Reid and John Harbaugh are the other two NFL coaches in the top-10, as they come in tied-for-sixth just behind Tomlin.
While the Steelers haven’t performed up to par over the last handful of years, Tomlin’s resume still speaks for itself. Entering Sunday’s tilt against the Baltimore Ravens, Tomlin is 161-93-2 in his tenure in Pittsburgh. Now some of his criticism is fair, including how his teams have under-performed, particularly in big games, over the last several years. Additionally, his coordinators have left a lot to be desired. Todd Haley has been the team’s most successful offensive coordinator since Bruce Arians left town, but the replacements since then haven’t been very good.
That includes Randy Fichtner and now currently, Matt Canada. Canada seems to be on his way out of town after the 2022 season, which will make the next hire all the more important. For a guy to be making $12+ million per year, fans expect results. For a prestigious franchise like the Steelers, Super Bowls are the expectation. Tomlin has failed to do that over the years, let alone much playoff success at all.
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