Did Mike Tomlin Deserve a Contract Extension?
Mike Tomlin signed a new three-year contract extension this week with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which will extend the longest-tenured coach through the 2027 NFL season. Mike Tomlin has been the Steelers' coach for 17 years now and has built a culture of toughness in Pittsburgh. He has been the pinnacle of stability for the franchise as he has never had a losing season during his reign. He has also led the Steelers to seven AFC North titles, 11 playoff appearances, and won a Super Bowl in 2008. The combined loyalty of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and Mike Tomlin has led to them being one of the most consistent and reliable franchises year after year. So why are there questions surrounding whether he deserves this contract extension or not?
In a league that is becoming increasingly quarterback and offensive-driven, Mike Tomlin’s mindset is heavily focused on the defensive side of the ball. Recently, several defensive-minded coaches like Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, Mike Zimmer, and others have been moved off of as head coaches in favor of younger offensive-minded coaches. This contract extension comes as a bit of a surprise as Tomlin and the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. Additionally, the team hasn’t been able to get the quarterback or the offensive side of the ball right since the departure of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell from the team. Currently, the Steelers will look to Russell Wilson or Justin Fields to make a career revival at the quarterback position, but without a solid commitment to the offensive side of the ball, they may not pan out either. If Tomlin is looking to save this offense, they should seriously look into trading for a big-time wide receiver and pay them to help stabilize the offense.
The term “success” is often hard to characterize because it is very dependent on people's expectations. For Alabama football fans, if their team fails to win the championship, they would classify that season as a failure. However, if Vanderbilt football makes a bowl game with a six-win season, they would be celebrating in the streets. Therefore, we can quantify success to mean that a team is taking steps in the right direction. Sometimes though, when you are a big brand, those expectations can be amplified. With the Pittsburgh Steelers being one of the NFL’s biggest brands, sometimes their dedication to loyalty blinds them from making necessary moves. The Steelers should have bigger expectations for themselves than just making the playoffs with a 9-8 record and losing every year in the first round. The nature of their brand deserves better results. Therefore, keeping Mike Tomlin for the foreseeable future is not a successful move because it doesn’t help the Steelers move forward from being incredibly mediocre this past half-decade.
