PITTSBURGH — Think Mike Tomlin could be on the hot seat going into the 2021 season? Think again.
The Steelers announced a three-year contract extension for their head coach Tuesday morning, keeping Tomlin in place through 2024. This move comes after the team reached the playoffs for the first time since 2017, only to fall at home to the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round.
But Tomlin’s contract hadn’t been addressed since the start of training camp in 2019, when he received a one-year extension. He had one season left on that deal, with an option also for 2022.
No need to worry about that now, as Tomlin, 49, enters his 15th season in Pittsburgh. Only New England’s Bill Belichick and New Orleans’ Sean Payton have been with their current teams longer.
“I am extremely grateful for this contract extension and want to thank [team president] Art Rooney II and everyone in the organization for the support in my first 14 seasons,” Tomlin said in a statement from the team. “We have a goal of winning the organization’s seventh Super Bowl championship, and I couldn’t be more enthusiastic about this upcoming season.”
Tomlin is now locked into shaping the future of the franchise far beyond the other two figures most instrumental in its success, general manager Kevin Colbert and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Colbert recently signed another one-year contract to take him through next year’s draft, and Roethlisberger enters his final season under contract.
Those three haven’t presided over a postseason victory since 2016, but it doesn’t seem like the team is interested in a full-scale shakeup anytime soon.
“Mike is one of the most successful head coaches in the National Football League, and we are confident in his leadership to continue to lead our team as we work to win another championship,” Rooney said in the news release.
Of course, the Steelers also are coming off their best season in three years, an AFC North division title and 12-4 record bolstered by the best start in club history at 11-0. They skidded to a 1-5 finish, including the Browns loss, but injuries played a factor and the regular-season finale in Cleveland meant little in terms of standings, so several backups started.
If Tomlin finishes out this new contract, he’ll have 18 years under his belt at the helm of the Steelers. That would be five shy of four-time Super Bowl-winning coach Chuck Noll.
Tomlin already will match Bill Cowher this season for the second-longest Steelers coaching tenure. He trails Cowher by four regular-season victories and four playoff victories, but his .650 winning percentage is higher than both Cowher (.623) and Noll (.566). That regular-season winning percentage for Tomlin ranks 17th all time in the NFL and third among active head coaches behind Belichick and Sean McVay, who enters his fifth season with the Los Angeles Rams.
He still has yet to have a losing season, the longest streak for any NFL coach with the same team. And last year he eclipsed former Steelers player and assistant Tony Dungy for the most wins by a minority head coach.
“Don’t ask me about my confidence as I sit here today, man,” Tomlin said in his final news conference of last season, a few days after the Steelers were dispatched by the Browns and his most recent public comments. “I’ve just been kicked out of the single-elimination tournament. I probably can’t give you a legitimate answer in terms of that. In terms of being all-in? You bet.”
