Mike Tomlin Explains Why He Thinks 18-Game NFL Season is ‘Inevitable’

The Steelers' coach addressed potential schedule expansion Monday morning.

Mike Tomlin watches the Steelers' wild-card loss to the Ravens. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

In the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin symbolizes consistency. He may not be the best coach of his generation, but he knows how to bend the rhythms of the NFL season to his advantage—as his lack of a losing season in 18 years suggests.

However, the league has changed around Tomlin—now football's longest-tenured coach.

The season expanded to 17 games in 2021, rendering the 8-8 season extinct. It's been no matter for Tomlin, who's won nine or more games in five straight seasons, but on Monday he hinted at further changes on the horizon.

"I listen and hear like you guys do," Tomlin said via Mark Maske of The Washington Post. "I think (an 18-game season has) been thrown about so much with so much regularity, I think it’s probably inevitable.”

Mike Tomlin on the prospect of an 18-game season in the future: “I listen and hear like you guys do. I think it’s been thrown about so much with so much regularity, I think it’s probably inevitable.”

— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) March 31, 2025

A schedule expansion to 18 games, while long rumored, has never been attempted in the NFL. The United States Football League played an 18-game season in the 1980s, while the World Football League played 20 games in the 1970s.

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed