Colin Cowherd ranks Mike Tomlin higher than top-tier NFL head coach

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave Mike Tomlin a three-year contract extension during the 2024 offseason. Despite the head coach's brilliant track record and resume, this move was met with controversy as the Steelers are in the midst of a seven-year drought without a playoff win.

Recently, prominent radio host Colin Cowherd ranked his top 10 NFL coaches on The Herd. Unsurprisingly, Mike Tomlin made the list. But his ranking should be questioned -- especially if Cowherd is considering recent success.

To nobody's surprise, Andy Reid was the top coach on the list. It's impossible to slot anyone else at number one after winning three of the past five Super Bowls (and playing in a fourth).

After that, things get a bit dicey.

Cowherd believes that Sean McVay is the second-best head coach in the league, followed by John Harbaugh and Sean Payton. Mike Tomlin is ranked 5th on his list of the top head coaches in the NFL. Interstingly, this ranks higher than 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan.

Steelers lack of recent success should drop Mike Tomlin on top 10 head coach list

We all know that, no matter what happens at this point, Mike Tomlin will be a shoo-in for the Pro Football Hall of Fame thanks to his legendary coaching career. Nobody is questioning what he did for his team in the past. He was phenomenal early in his head coaching career. But recent results have been less than spectacular.

The fact that Tomlin has never had a losing record is an impressive feat. However, it becomes less of an area to boast about when you consider the lack of success this team has had in the second half of his coaching career.

Over the past 13 years, the Steelers have won a mere three playoff games. Now trying to avoid going eight straight years without a postseason victory, most head coaches would have lost their jobs for far less. In those games, Pittsburgh has been humiliated by double-digit losses.

Related: 5 incriminating statistics prove Mike Tomlin didn't deserve contract extension

Fans will point to the fact that Tomlin did a lot with a little (a bad quarterback situation and an incompetent head coach). But this reasoning doesn't check out. Tomlin was solely responsible for hiring both Randy Fichtner and Matt Canada. This decision led to five years of poor performances on offense.

Likewise, we all know that he has a major hand in what happens in the NFL Draft. Tomlin was head over heels for players like Devin Bush, Artie Burns, and Najee Harris. When it comes to roster decisions, the Steelers head coach is no stranger to signing former draft crushes who were washed up (like Myles Jack and Patrick Peterson) or trading for a player he knew well entering the draft (like William Jackson III).

Meanwhile, Kyle Shanahan -- who ranks 6th on Cowher's list of best NFL head coaches -- took his team to the Super Bowl twice in the past five years and has played in four NFC championship games during this span.

If this is a ranking of who has the best resume, then Mike Tomlin clearly deserves a high spot among the top NFL head coaches. But if Colin Cowherd's ranking criteria includes recent success, we can't ignore how bad the Steelers have been in the postseason for over a dozen years.