The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the most stable organizations throughout NFL history, and a lot of that has to do with the head coaches they have hired. Since 1969, Pittsburgh has had just three head coaches - Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. All three have seen different levels of success, with each contributing to the Steelers' six Super Bowl titles. Tomlin just signed a three-year extension to keep him in Pittsburgh through 2027, and his lack of recent success has the fan base split on the decision.
Aaron Warnick
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin at training camp in Latrobe, PA.
Tomlin has been scrutinized a lot lately, especially for the Steelers' lack of recent playoff success. They haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season, meaning a player like TJ Watt has never seen a playoff victory in his NFL career. Another mark against Tomlin has been his decision making when it comes to putting together his coaching staff. This was noticed by former Steelers executive, Doug Whaley, and he discussed Tomlin's weakness on the 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday.
"I think he's a heck of a coach. I think the two things that you can have issues with, number one for me is not the playoff record. It's his hiring practices, how he has hired coaches in the past. And if you look at it, [Sean] McVay's been in the league seven years, and I can't count how many guys he's had a tree of, a coaching tree. There's only been two, and Bruce Arians was ceremoniously let out of town, that was a head coach. And then Scottie Montgomery went to be the head coach of East Carolina. How do you coach 17 years, not have a losing season, win one Super Bowl, and not have a coaching tree?"
Whaley was an executive for the Steelers during the 2000s, and was a part of the organization when they decided to hire Tomlin. He left Pittsburgh to accept the assistant general manager job with the Buffalo Bills in 2010. Coaching trees are something that have become coveted because of all the young minds that have had success early on in their careers, like Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, and Mike McDaniel.
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Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay stands in front of local and national media while answering questions about his team.
McVay and Shanahan are two of the most impressive coaches in the league. Both have found a way to accomplish consistent success, while also finding talent on their coaching staff. Every offseason when the coaching hiring cycle rolls around, it is always the top assistants under McVay and Shanahan who are getting the most attention.
DeMeco Ryans was the defensive coordinator under Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers, and was with the 49ers in various roles for six seasons. He got a lot of head coaching buzz after the 2022 season, and took the head coaching gig with the Houston Texans. The Texans were supposed to be a tanking team in 2023, but turned out to be one of the best in the league as they made it to the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin walks the field before a game.
Steelers' Mike Tomlin Struggles With His Coaching Staff
Tomlin has made a slew of wrong hires at important positions on his staff. Before hiring Arthur Smith as the team's new offensive coordinator, Pittsburgh had a disastrous six seasons with a combination of Randy Fichtner and Matt Canada in the role. They were the wrong hire, and didn't see much success in Pittsburgh. The Steelers didn't renew Fichtner's contract after the 2020 season, and he hasn't coached since. Canada was fired in the middle of the 2023 season, and it's unlikely he gets another shot in the NFL for the forseeable future.
The issue isn't just hiring the wrong coaches, it's also holding on to them for too long. There is no reason a coordinator as inefficient as Canada should have been given two-and-a-half seasons before being fired. It was clear he didn't have what it takes to call an offense at the professional level, and instead of admitting his mistake early, Tomlin let it drag out over multiple seasons. The attempted continued development of Kenny Pickett was the ultimate reason Tomlin kept Canada around for as long as he did, but that proved to be a failure.
The hiring of Smith will hopefully work for Tomlin and the Steelers, but if it doesn't, Tomlin will have a serious black mark on his resume.
What do you think about Tomlin's lack of a coaching tree? Comment below.
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