Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers legend James Harrison did not hold back on Mike Tomlin in a recent rant on his Deebo & Joe podcast. Harrison, who is an often critic of Tomlin, thinks his former head coach was a good coach but not elite. That’s why he believes Tomlin does not belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I can’t give him a Hall of Fame coach because he hasn’t made disciples,” Harrison said. “You’re telling me you’re a Hall of Fame coach, but no one has followed you? That can’t be the thing. He’s the only coach that has coached this long and does not have a tree. Guys are emotionally attached to him, not performance.
“A great coach, the measurement of greatness, it’s not based on personal experiences and relationships you’ve had with them. It is purely what you did as a coach. Did you get championships? Did you build disciples? Wins and losses is great, but those wins and losses have to add up to championships. A Hall of Fame coach should be making history for having the longest losing streak in playoff history.”
Tomlin doesn’t really have a coaching tree. None of his offensive or defensive coordinators have earned head coaching opportunities elsewhere in the NFL.
Bill Cowher’s coaching tree features Super Bowl-winning head coach Bruce Arians, Ken Whisenhunt, Marvin Lewis, Dick LeBeau, Dom Capers, Jim Haslett, Mike Mularkey and David Culley.
Despite Tomlin’s lack of a coaching tree and 8-12 playoff record, Harrison thinks Tomlin will get into the Hall of Fame due to some of his stats.
“I do believe he’ll get into the Hall because of the numbers. Do I believe he should be in there? No,” Harrison said.
Tomlin has 193 regular-season wins and has 19 consecutive non-losing seasons, which is an NFL record for the start of a coaching career.
“When you look at the greats. The measurement for all-time greats. Nobody has a negative postseason record,” Harrison said. “And I can go back, back. Like back to George Halas, 6-3. You go back to Don Shula, 19-7. Even Paul Brown, 9-8. Bill Belichick, 31-13. Andy Reid, 28-17. What’s Tomlin’s playoff record? … 8-12, brah. He’s 8-12.”
Deebo doesn't hold back on Mike Tomlin stepping down as Head Coach of the Steelers and says he doesn't believe he's a Hall of Fame Coach 👀@jharrison9292 @joehaden23 #DeeboAndJoe pic.twitter.com/crEdcgFhlf
— Deebo & Joe (@deeboandjoe) January 16, 2026
This is not the first time that Harrison gave a brutally honest opinion on Tomlin.
“I have never been a person that thought Coach Tomlin was a great coach,” Harrison said on the Deebo & Joe podcast after the Steelers’ Week 13 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills. “I thought he was a good [coach]. I’ll be honest, part of that is because, when I was slated to be the starter when Joey [Porter] left, he drafted, one and two, outside linebackers. Right now, we have coaches on this staff.
“When I say coaches,...
