Steelers Now
A former NFL head coach thinks Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin still has a lot of good coaching ahead of him.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has received a lot of criticism amid his team’s recent slide of losing five of its last seven games. However, one former NFL head coach thinks many fans don’t know what they have in Tomlin.
Super Bowl winning head coach Mike McCarthy recently expressed his belief that Tomlin should not only not be on the hot seat, but he has a lot of good coaching still ahead of him, too.
“I have the utmost respect for Mike Tomlin,” McCarthy said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I’ve competed against Mike. I think Mike is really starting the second half of a Hall of Fame career. They’re playing for first place. They’ve been in these kinds of spots before. He’ll do a great job getting ready. Let it play out. Let this play out. He’s been in this spot a bunch of times. You’ve always got a chance because their defense is going to keep them in the game. Mike’s a great coach.”
Tomlin has been one of the best head coaches in the league since joining Pittsburgh in 2007. He holds the NFL record for the most consecutive non-losing seasons to begin a coaching career with 18 and always seems to have his team in contention for the playoffs at the end of each season.
However, the Steelers fanbase is demanding more than just another year of barely making the playoffs with a quick, first-round exit, and it seems to be trending in that direction again, given how the team has been playing as of late.
The offense has struggled to find consistency and big-play ability while the defense is playing at an historically bad level.
During the team’s latest loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 13, the defense allowed 249 yards rushing, which was the most at Pittsburgh by an opposing team since 1975 (Buffalo – 310 yards on 9/28/75).
Still, it’s hard to imagine Pittsburgh parting ways with Tomlin, even if similar scenarios have worked out in the past. For example, head coach Andy Reid had the Philadelphia Eagles stuck in mediocrity when they moved on from him after the 2012 season. He has since led the Kansas City Chiefs to three Super Bowl wins while the Eagles have won two more themselves.
Only time will tell how things will play out for Tomlin and the Steelers, but the long-time head coach seems to still have believers with what could be another late-season collapse on the horizon.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former NFL HC Believes Mike Tomlin is Just Starting ‘Second Half of a Hall of Fame Career’
