Farewell, Mike Tomlin: Faith, Family, And The Pinnacle of Sports

Just hours ago as of this writing, Mike Tomlin, head coach of the venerable Pittsburgh Steelers for the last 19 years, resigned. He coached them to a Super Bowl championship after the 2008 season, and represented the AFC in the Super Bowl after the 2010 season.

Tomlin’s final regular season record as coach for the Steelers was 193 wins, 114 losses, and 2 draws. His professed Christian faith and service to community and team fits in with the culture the Steelers have built over decades.

The astonishing .628 winning percentage over those years only includes 3 .500 seasons, and never included a losing season. For the 2021 season the league switched to a 17-game season, so an even record is not possible under most circumstances.

Pittsburgh’s week 18 matchup was against division rival Baltimore. The winner would play in the postseason as division champion; the loser would be on summer vacation.

Pittsburgh prevailed by 2, when Baltimore missed a game-winning field goal. Baltimore’s team brass was so hasty that they fired their long-tenured coach, John Harbaugh.

Pittsburgh, for their part, had essentially announced to the commentary team for week 18 that Tomlin had the safest job in the league.

As such, he walks away on his own terms, still quite young, respected and even beloved by most of the stakeholders. Though it is worth a note that Tomlin cannot coach an NFL game for 2 years; he’s still under contract to Pittsburgh.

That .628 winning percentage is all the more impressive in a league with a rigid salary cap, and that values parity above most other concerns.

Perhaps Mr. Harbaugh can now coach the Steelers. What is certainly apparent is that the noted brutality and unfairness of coaching at this level doesn’t correspond to any reality of its difficulty.

Jason Kettinger is Associate Editor of Open for Business. He writes on politics, sports, faith and more.