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Since becoming the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach in 2007, Mike Tomlin has undoubtedly been an integral part of the team’s success. His leadership has helped shape the team’s performance and created a legacy in the NFL.
Tomlin, known for his composed demeanor, has led the Steelers to the postseason 12 out of his 18 years as their head coach. He is famously known for never having a losing season in the league, but since his early success as the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl back in the 2008 season, the Steelers have seen their share of struggles.
Now, Tomlin is more famously associated with winning, but only enough to maintain a .500 or better record. His playoff slump, which goes back to 2017, is a key talking point anytime Tomlin’s name is mentioned.
However, Tomlin is far from the only NFL coaching great to have had major success yet struggled to win over multiple season spans in the playoffs. Here’s a sample of those great coaches and how their career paths skewed with regular season versus postseason success.
Chuck Noll
Many Steelers fans forget that one of the most legendary coaches of all time had a rocky beginning to his head coaching tenure in Pittsburgh.
Hall of Famer Chuck Noll started with no playoff appearances in his first three seasons with the Steelers, going 1-13, 5-9, and 6-8 before making his first postseason in 1972. The 11-3 year marked his first playoff win – his only playoff win – in his first five seasons as the head of the team.
Patience with Noll finally paid off in 1974 – his sixth year with the team – when they won the Super Bowl at the end of the 1974 season and capped off one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties.
Following the 1979 Super Bowl championship season, Noll would struggle again, waiting five more seasons to win a playoff game in 1984 and it would be his next-to-last victory, guiding the Steelers to an AFC Championship loss to the Miami Dolphins. Noll’s Steelers would struggle throughout the remainder of the 1980’s, with one postseason win between 1985 and his retirement following the 1991 season.
Bill Cowher
Bill Cowher continued the legacy of Steelers Hall of Fame coaches, but one must wonder what would’ve happened if Ben Roethlisberger hadn’t mad a shoestring tackle to save a touchdown, following a Jerome Bettis fumble against the Colts, in the 2005 playoffs.
It took Cowher 14 seasons to finally get over the hump, limping into the playoffs as the sixth seed and becoming the first team to win it all from the lowest spot in the playoffs. However, you could only imagine the public opinion if social media had been as prominent during his 15 seasons with the Steelers: most likely not as favorable, just like Tomlin!
Cowher’s postseason record would’ve mirrored Tomlin’s: minus the four wins to a Super Bowl XL victory, Cowher’s legacy would’ve been that of a really good coach with an 8-9 playoff record and four AFC title game losses. Instead, his legendary 2005 run led to a Lombardi trophy, a 12-9 playoff record and his bust in Canton.
Tony Dungy
Branching off from Chuck Noll, Dungy would create his own Hall of Fame legacy as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts.
Dungy led the Bucs to the playoffs four times in his six years with the team, winning one playoff game in his first three seasons and then following up with only one win in his next three before joining the Colts. Along with QB Peyton Manning, the duo would be labeled as “choke artists” in the postseason, struggling with “one and done” appearances in the playoffs. Between the Bucs and Colts, Dungy would manage only a single playoff victory before getting to the AFC Championship in 2003.
Following that success, Dungy would win one more playoff game before a feast or famine period of four seasons that saw him win the Super Bowl in 2006, but lose their first playoff game in 2005, 2007, and 2008, before he retired with a 9-10 playoff record.
As many are likely aware, Mike Tomlin branched from Dungy’s coaching tree, as an assistant defensive coach. Like Dungy, Tomlin’s teams have been consistent – so consistent that those who enjoy betting on the NFL often choose the Steelers. Whoever you like to place bets on, it’s always a good idea to read a guide to betting on the NFL, as nothing is guaranteed in this game.
Yet, one thing is certain: if Dungy was enshrined in the Hall of Fame despite a losing playoff record and one Super Bowl ring, you can rest assured Tomlin will one day join him there too.
Don Shula
One of Chuck Noll’s foils in the 70’s, this Hall of Fame coach successfully guided his team – the ’72 Dolphins – to the only perfect season in NFL history. Miami would win back-to-back Super Bowls, but Shula’s early success was that of a head coach with no losing seasons but a failure to win the postseason too.
Shula would go five winless postseasons as the head of the Baltimore Colts before leading them to the 1968 NFL Championship. Shula would go 8-5 and miss the playoffs in his final season with the Colts before joining the Dolphins. Shula led the Dolphins to three straight Super Bowls and five straight playoff appearances before falling into an eight year slump following the 1973 championship season and his next playoff victory.
Shula would finally win in the playoffs and return to the Super Bowl during the 1982 season, with a repeat performance besting Noll’s 1984 team for another appearance in the big game. Shula would fail to win the Lombardi trophy in either of those seasons, and would go on another winless playoff streak for four seasons between 1986 and 1989. He would finish his 33-year head coaching career with a playoff record of 19-17.
Marty Schottenheimer
When one thinks of great coaches with bad playoff records, Schottenheimer’s name usually jumps to the top of the list. His coaching tree is that of legend, producing a list of names such as Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Herman Edwards, Mike McCarthy, Bruce Arians, and many others. For guiding so many of his assistants to coaching success, Schottenheimer lacked that in the postseason himself.
Schottenheimer’s 21-year head coaching career produced a 327-200 record (.613, 8th all time) and playoff appearances for three of the four teams he coached. (He was only with Washington one season.) Yet, his 18 playoff games coached yielded a 5-13 record.
After leading the Chiefs to the AFC Championship in 1993, Schottenheimer would fail to win another postseason game in his next 11 seasons as a head coach.
Andy Reid
It’s hard to believe now, but Reid was largely criticized for going “one and done” during the middle portion of his career.
Reid would go nine seasons with one playoff win between stints with the Eagles and Chiefs. And before starting Patrick Mahomes, Reid’s playoff record was 12-14!
Obviously Reid proved his doubters wrong, recently going 14-2 in the playoffs since 2019, with three Lombardi trophies cementing his future status as a Hall of Famer.
Tom Landry
Another Hall of Fame coach and one of the greatest to ever do it also had a rough start to his coaching career. Hired at 36-years-old, Landry would lead the Dallas Cowboys for 29 consecutive years between 1960 and 1988. Landry would start his career with a 25-53 during his first six seasons before first making the postseason in 1966. He failed to win that game and would only win a single playoff game between 1966 and 1969.
Dallas’ patience would finally payoff when Landry led the Cowboys to the Super Bowl in 1970. They would fall short that season but rebound to winning it in a repeat appearance in ’71.
Landry’s Cowboys would be a Super Bowl rival of Chuck Noll’s 70’s Steelers dynasty, facing them twice in the decade, with both games won by Pittsburgh. However, Landry would avoid the Steelers in 1977, hoisting the Lombardi trophy yet again.
Landry would have mixed success from there, slowly fading into obscurity in the 1980’s before retiring following the 1988 season with a career postseason record of 20-16.
Mike Tomlin’s playoff struggles mirror that of other great coaches appeared first on Steel City Underground.