The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t fired a head coach since Lyndon Johnson was president. At least one prominent sports gambling outlet isn’t dismissing the possibility it could happen in 2021.
Not long after Sunday’s Super Bowl completed the 2020 NFL season, Sportsbettingdime.com released its odds for the champion of next year’s Super Bowl, for next season’s MVP and for the first coach to be fired or resign for the 2021 league year.
Mike Tomlin was in the top 10 on the list, albeit barely. A bet on Tomlin to be the next coach to be fired or resign would pay 29-to-1, according to Sports Betting Dime.
Tomlin is entering his 15th season as Steelers coach and never has had a losing season, but an aging roster combined with the Steelers’ finish to this past season — losing five of their final six, including a humiliating home playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns — has some questioning the long-term trajectory of the organization.
The Steelers have had only three coaches — Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Tomlin — since Bill Austin was dismissed a day after completing a 2-11-1 season in 1968.
The most likely coach, per SBD odds, to be fired or quit? The Denver Broncos’ Vic Fangio at 5-to-1. The Chicago Bears’ Matt Nagy (6-to-1), the Minnesota Vikings’ Mike Zimmer (8-to-1), the Cincinnati Bengals’ Zac Taylor (11-to-1) and the Arizona Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury (12-to-1) round out the top five.
Also of note in the Sports Betting Dime odds is Ben Roethlisberger is listed as the No. 14 choice among MVP candidates at 45-to-1. The Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is the favorite at 7-to-1.
SBD, incidentally, likes the Steelers’ chances at next year’s Super Bowl more than some. It pegs the Steelers at 25-to-1, the ninth choice among the 32 NFL teams.
Betonline.ag last week listed the Steelers among the bottom half of the league at 33-to-1.
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