Steelers’ Mike Tomlin new all-time leader in wins among Black coaches
Sunday’s victory at the Baltimore Ravens not only allowed the Pittsburgh Steelers to remain undefeated, the win was a milestone for coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin moved into sole possession of 22nd place on the NFL’s all-time coaches’ wins list. But the significance of his 140th win over 14 seasons is it moved Tomlin past Tony Dungy. That made Tomlin the winningest Black coach in league history.
“He’s not just a great Black head coach, he’s a great head coach,” Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “It’s one thing to be the all-time winningest Black head coach, but this dude deserves more … credit. To never have a losing season, to get the most out of his players, it’s not just first-rounders who end up playing great here. He’s had fifth- and sixth-round and undrafted guys doing well.”
Tomlin is 140-74-1. With the Steelers’ next win this season, he will tie Marty Schottenheimer for the most consecutive nonlosing seasons to begin a coaching career. His Steelers teams qualified for the playoffs eight times over his first 13 seasons, including a Super Bowl title after his second season and another Super Bowl appearance at the end of Year 4.
“I know a lot of people like to say he inherited a great team,” Heyward said. “But think about other people who inherited great teams. Think about the basketball teams that Phil Jackson would take over. That’s not a shot at (Jackson). But when you are able to lead a group of men and lead them the right way, that says lot about type of coach you are.”
Tomlin is three wins way from tying Hall of Famer Marv Levy for 21st in career wins. And after that on the list, if the Steelers run the table undefeated this season, who would Tomlin tie to break into the top 20?
His predecessor with the Steelers, Bill Cowher. Cowher, who was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame this year, went 149-90-1 in 15 seasons.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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