It feels somewhat unfair to be harsh toward a coaching staff that’s had nothing but winning seasons longer than some Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been alive. Yet, that’s the conundrum we find ourselves in when evaluating Mike Tomlin, and the rest of his coaching staff. Good enough to contend for the playoffs, but not competitive enough once they get there.
That’s a sentiment CBS Sports’ Mike Renner seems to share. On the Pushing The Pile podcast on Wednesday, Renner ranked each NFL coaching staff in a tier list. He put the Steelers’ staff in the third-best tier, named “unspectacularly solid tier.”
“Mike Tomlin, again, I don’t think anyone’s debating he’s a fantastic coach,” Renner said. “But I don’t see anything they do offensively and defensively being at the bleeding edge of schematic innovation, that you kind of need to be amongst the best in the NFL right now. That’s just where I think the Pittsburgh Steelers lie.”
“Unspectacularly solid” feels like a perfect description of the Steelers’ franchise over the past half decade. While Tomlin’s already built a Hall of Fame resume, that description is unfortunately starting to fit him, too.
Mike Tomlin’s supporters will point to the quarterback situation as a prime example of their coach overachieving. In all honestly, it’s hard to disagree with that argument. Tomlin’s made the playoffs each of the past two seasons, which included Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson all starting games for him. All of them had their moments. But there’s also a reason that they’re all still looking to prove themselves in the league.
At this point, though, Tomlin’s critics are only gaining steam. There are a few things they can point to.
One is his lack of a coaching tree. It doesn’t mean he’s a bad coach, but he’s yet to find a coordinator who’s gone on to be a head coach anywhere else. Tomlin’s also lost six consecutive postseason games, with the last three not being remotely close. With a conservative, throwback offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith, and Teryl Austin’s defense struggling at the end of the 2024 season, citing a lack of innovation on this staff isn’t the hottest take in the world.
The Steelers do seem to be aiming to change things this offseason. They brought in Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf on offense while adding to their interior defensive line and secondary with big moves.
Whether that ends up being enough to finally win a playoff game remains up in the air. Until Mike Tomlin, and the rest of this staff can change their postseason fate, these criticisms will only grow.
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