No one in Pittsburgh is under more scrutiny right now than Mike Tomlin. He will head into his 19th year as the Steelers head coach. Those who follow Pittsburgh's favorite football team closely will know that change doesn't happen often, whether that is firing a head coach or an assistant. If they have years left on their contracts, they are cemented to return.
His lack of playoff success has damaged the Steeler's long-time coach. He hasn't won a playoff game since January 2017, when he took care of business against a Dolphins team led by quarterback Matt Moore. It has been a constant feeling of Deja Vu in The Steel City. They see a 9-8 or 10-7 team who barely make the playoffs or miss the dance.
Another big slight against Tomlin's resume has been his lack of a coaching tree. Every organization that has success will have assistant coaches land promotions elsewhere. Steelers fans aren't even looking for a head coach hire out of Pittsburgh, but they would like to see someone get poached.
It's hard to comprehend how Tomlin failed to have a lucrative coaching tree when he had an easy path to succeed.
Tomlin would have had success if he kept former Steelers as coaches
Since Tomlin won his first Super Bowl, many speculated that he won based on the roster that Bill Cowher helped create. That might appear nuts because Tomlin found ways of getting those teams to two Super Bowls and finding victory in one. Just chalking that up as a fluke is not fair. While locating failures in Tomlin's career, you can find plenty of other avenues.
Tomlin had an easy way of incorporating former players into his coaching staff but failed to do the obvious.
When you see former Steelers get coaching interviews and promotions elsewhere, it hurts the soul. Larry Foote and Deshea Townsend are getting coordinator interviews when the Steelers should have hired them in the system years ago. Even a legend like Hines Ward would have been a nice addition to the coaching staff, although he currently falls short of quality NFL experience.
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Hiring a former player isn't something Tomlin has neglected to do in the past. He had former Steelers like Carnell Lake, Joey Porter, and Jerry Olsavsky on his staff. He has constantly failed at making the correct hire. It is up to the head coach to make those decisions he failed to make them when they were right there for the taking.
Someone like Antwaun Randel-El would have been a tremendous addition to the offense. He is a young and upcoming coach who the fans love. Speaking of up-and-coming coaches, former Steelers quarterback J.T. Barrett just got added to the Bears offensive-minded staff. He had a short stint in Pittsburgh, but you can tell his current trajectory is positive.
Tomlin continues to fail the easy layup hires as his former players land better coaching jobs elsewhere.