Pressure? Steelers Have No Reason to Put Any on Mike Tomlin
PITTSBURGH -- Mike Tomlin will be with the Pittsburgh Steelers through (at least) the 2024 season, and if everything goes well, it's hard to imagine the 14-year head coach leaving the City of Champions anytime soon.
Tomlin is 49-years-old and carries 14 consecutive winning seasons into 2021. A resume that already holds a Super Bowl win, two appearances and seven AFC North titles should only get better before Tomlin's new deal is over - and with it should come another.
So, where does the pressure lay?
Some believe Tomlin has some sort of baggage on his shoulders now that he's with the Steelers for another three years. To those who wish him gone, you'll, unfortunately, be stuck with the same head coach for some time to come, because there is little to no pressure added with the new deal.
Tomlin has done more than enough to solidify himself as top tier head coach in the NFL, and despite criticism, he's only getting better. Some mention the last "few years" being lackluster for the Steelers and Tomlin, but frankly, it's just another showing of how dominant the head coach is.
Tomlin handled an Antonio Brown-Le'Veon Bell situation with ease. Even those who saw some of the chaos that came with Brown during his time in Pittsburgh, no one expected the explosion that happened the second he left after his final Week 17 game.
For years, Tomlin kept his locker room under control, even with Brown's nonsense included in it. Bell tried everything he could to make a mockery of Tomlin and the Steelers, but all that ultimately happened was the city of Pittsburgh moving on and Tomlin finding a reliable runner in James Conner.
No harm, no foul.
From there, Ben Roethlisberger went down. Whether the defense was built to win or not, Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges weren't, and therefore, the team wasn't. An 8-8 record behind the team Pittsburgh had in 2019 was more than impressive on Tomlin's part.
And finally, 2020. Yes, it was a cliff dive no one wanted to see. It hurt the feelings of every Steelers fan and player. But when names like Bud Dupree, Devin Bush and Zach Banner go down, and Randy Fichtner's play-calling just gets worse, there's only so much a person can do to save the ship.
Tomlin should've moved on from Fichtner years ago. That one is on him. Outside of being too committed to his coaching staff - and sometimes his aging players - he doesn't have too many flaws.
As of now, Tomlin is working on a Hall of Fame career in Pittsburgh. Whether people choose to see that now or later is up to them, but the Steelers know what they have in a head coach and don't expect that to change because of their doing.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
