2025-26 NFL coaching carousel thread

[BurnsWhenIPee]

There are many good arguments for the proposition Tomlin's time in Pittsburgh has come to its end. OOP makes and has made a lot of them. But the other side of the coin is an undeniable truth. It's going to be very very difficult to find a replacement who is as good a coach. Not that there aren't other coaches as good as he is, but I think few if any of them will be willing to take over a team with the Aaron Rodgers ticking time bomb under center. Either he stays (bad) or retires (worse ) in terms of immediate outcomes next season.

That's my key, is if you want to make a move, that's cool. But you better be damn sure you can get somebody better. Will the Ravens get someone better than Harbaugh? The Browns and Stefanski?

The other question I've been pondering lately is how many "good" coaches there are in the NFL? Sure I'm missing someone, but here's the quick-thought list I came up with, in no particular order ...

McDermott
Vrabel
Tomlin
Taylor (maybe not)
Ryans
Coen (short sample size)
Payton
Reid
Jim Harbaugh
Sirianni
Quinn (probably)
Johnson (short sample size)
Campbell (even with all his quirks)
La Fleur
McVay
Shanahan
Mac Donald

So that's basically half the league. For the other half, whether they have a coach or not, don't they have an obligation to at least kick the tires on a guy like Harbaugh and see if he would have any interest in them? He should be unemployed for only the exact amount of time that he wants to be unemployed, and not a minute longer.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

As a Jets fan, I cannot imagine being so bored with Tomlin-like seasons that "I don't know...just something different" is an attractive option.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

As a Jets fan, I cannot imagine being so bored with Tomlin-like seasons that "I don't know...just something different" is an attractive option.

You probably won't see a more entitled fanbase. They were tired of Noll in the 80s and ran him off. They were ready to run off Cowher in the late 90s and ultimately did run off Kordell but not before slandering him. And now, so much of this is related to race towards Tomlin, but not all. His underperforming against bad opponents is colorblind, but the comments about him by fans are not.

 

[outofplace]

If the Steelers nudge Tomlin out -- which I could go in either direction on -- they need to pull the plunger and do a complete rebuild.

You could argue that they are doing that, with a heavy focus on the lines. This could easily be Heyward's last season. I still think Rodgers is going to retire. Four of the starters on the offensive line are young guys. They found a new defensive line anchor in Harmon, but they the defense is where they are going to go into heavy rebuilding mode.

One problem is Watt's contract, which was a mistake. Cutting him would be a big cap hit and that contract makes him near impossible to trade.

They propped up the team with acquisitions like Rodgers and Gainwell, but I think they will be looking for their long-term quarterback and other young players once they have their lines in place.

 

[outofplace]

You probably won't see a more entitled fanbase. They were tired of Noll in the 80s and ran him off. They were ready to run off Cowher in the late 90s and ultimately did run off Kordell but not before slandering him. And now, so much of this is related to race towards Tomlin, but not all. His underperforming against bad opponents is colorblind, but the comments about him by fans are not.

Steelers fans are definitely spoiled. We don't really know what it is like to go into a season thinking our team has no shot at making the playoffs. We have known nothing but Hall of Fame head coaches. When you have that, it makes sense that people would stop being satisfied with just making the playoffs and never getting past the first round.

Noll had been the coach for 23 seasons. He was still a very good coach. You could argue that dragging the 1989 team within a late dropped pass of making the AFC Championship game was the best coaching job of his career. He was still the smartest guy in the room, but he also stubbornly hung onto old systems that worked with dominant talent in the '70s that didn't hold up nearly as well with mediocre talent in the early '90s. One thing I had forgotten was that he was only 59 in his final NFL season, which doesn't seem so old now.

Cowher took largely the same team that went 7-9 in Noll's final season and went 11-5 while winning a division championship. Was he as good as Noll? No, but we are still talking about a Hall of Famer in his own right.

There is definitely a racial element to some of the disrespect for Tomlin in Pittsburgh, but that isn't the only reason fans didn't like the hire. Many wanted Russ Grimm, which would have been a terrible decision, because of his connections to the team and the city. Many wanted Ken Whisenhunt, who had been the offensive coordinator on the Super Bowl team in 2005. Many just weren't going to like anybody who replaced Cowher, who was incredibly popular. Those are the ones who keep going on about Tomlin winning with Cowher's players. To an extent, that's exactly what he did, but he also developed some outstanding players on his own. He got six elite seasons out of Antonio Brown. That alone is worth some respect.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Steelers fans are definitely spoiled. We don't really know what it is like to go into a season thinking our team has no shot at making the playoffs. We have known nothing but Hall of Fame head coaches. When you have that, it makes sense that people would stop being satisfied with just making the playoffs and never getting past the first round.

Then you add into the mix the purgatory of being just good enough to never get a top draft pick.

Pittsburgh has had just two top 10 draft picks since 2000 (Plaxico at 8 in 2000; Devin Bush at 10 in 2019). Their average first pick this century is 23rd.

 

[outofplace]

Then you add into the mix the purgatory of being just good enough to never get a top draft pick.

Pittsburgh has had just two top 10 draft picks since 2000 (Plaxico at 8 in 2000; Devin Bush at 10 in 2019). Their average first pick this century is 23rd.

They only finished low enough to get one of those. The traded up to take Bush. (Yikes)

One of the common knocks against Tomlin is that he has never developed a quarterback. Roethlisberger was in his fourth season when Tomlin arrived. Their first real attempt at developing one, Pickett, was a disaster. Don't get me wrong here. Pickett probably would have failed anyway, but Tomlin could not have done a worse job of handling the guy.

 

[qtlaw]

You could argue that they are doing that, with a heavy focus on the lines. This could easily be Heyward's last season.

Man Hayward looked like the best player in 5he game, maybe even 2nd best DPOY in the league. Niners need someone just like him now.

 

[wicked]

The Pennsyltucky fan base never warmed up to James Franklin, all Black Ron Zook jokes aside, partly for the same reason as Tomlin. People forget that an hour out of Pittsburgh and out east to Harrisburg, there is nothing. Johnstown, Altoona, that’s it. Not everyone out there is unenlightened, but I’d say it’s a majority. It’s a wide swath of the state.

And Tomlin is a Tony Dungee disciple. Expecting him to develop a top 10 quarterback is a stretch.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

The Pennsyltucky fan base never warmed up to James Franklin, all Black Ron Zook jokes aside, partly for the same reason as Tomlin. People forget that an hour out of Pittsburgh and out east to Harrisburg, there is nothing. Johnstown, Altoona, that’s it. Not everyone out there is unenlightened, but I’d say it’s a majority. It’s a wide swath of the state.

And Tomlin is a Tony Dungee disciple. Expecting him to develop a top 10 quarterback is a stretch.

A lot of those same people who hated Franklin for being black (and I have Puerto Rican friends who are darker than he was) absolutely LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED Terry Smith and some are still mad he wasn't made permanent head coach. Gee, wonder why....

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

The Steelers rallied, but still needed an incredibly lucky break to make the playoffs. The biggest reason for that was an ugly loss in Cleveland. There is a large part of the fan base that called that one a "Tomlin Special," a loss to a very bad team. The Steelers are 0-4-1 in their last five games against opponents that eight or more games below .500. Usually, they come out two conservative and allow a bad team to get a lead and some momentum. That is exactly how they lost to the Browns.

That is one of the wildest and most damning stats I've seen in some time.

 

[outofplace]

Man Hayward looked like the best player in 5he game, maybe even 2nd best DPOY in the league. Niners need someone just like him now.

He isn't that guy consistently any more, but he can still go into beast mode. That said, he is 36 years old and finishing his 15th season in the league.

 

[outofplace]

The Pennsyltucky fan base never warmed up to James Franklin, all Black Ron Zook jokes aside, partly for the same reason as Tomlin. People forget that an hour out of Pittsburgh and out east to Harrisburg, there is nothing. Johnstown, Altoona, that’s it. Not everyone out there is unenlightened, but I’d say it’s a majority. It’s a wide swath of the state.

And Tomlin is a Tony Dungee disciple. Expecting him to develop a top 10 quarterback is a stretch.

That is why hiring strong coordinators and other assistants is so important, but he hasn't done that well. Tomlin has no real coaching tree at all.

 

[Scout]

I cannot remember watching a Steeler game that didn’t mean something. This goes back decades.

If Tomlin were white, the Michael River would meet the Pettaway River to form the Tomlin River.

Cowher had TWO 6-10 seasons. TWO.

Tomlin should… and I never say never, but NEVER be fired.

 

[qtlaw]

I cannot remember watching a Steeler game that didn’t mean something. This goes back decades.

If Tomlin were white, the Michael River would meet the Pettaway River to form the Tomlin River.

Cowher had TWO 6-10 seasons. TWO.

Tomlin should… and I never say never, but NEVER be fired.

I never wanted to think this way but I’ve never see Tomlin be treated as an insider by Pitt fans. Maybe I’m wrong. Sure he hasn’t won like Belichek or Noll but he didn’t have Brady for 20 yrs either. He had Big Ben and he won with him. Afterwards it’s been a bunch of Picketts and who?

 

[Scout]

He won with the Pickett’s.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Afterwards it’s been a bunch of Picketts and who?

I will not tolerate this Devlin Hodges erasure!

Anyway, here's Tomlin today on Harbaugh being fired.

"In terms of him being let go, unfortunately I just think it's a component of today's sports culture. ... More than anything I just think it's a larger example of today's sports culture in terms of not a lot of patience in the entertainment component of what it is that we do. There's just not a lot of longevity. I'm sure we all would like to be Don Shula and Tom Landry but I think those days are gone."

 

[da man]

I will not tolerate this Devlin Hodges erasure!

Anyway, here's Tomlin today on Harbaugh being fired.

"In terms of him being let go, unfortunately I just think it's a component of today's sports culture. ... More than anything I just think it's a larger example of today's sports culture in terms of not a lot of patience in the entertainment component of what it is that we do. There's just not a lot of longevity. I'm sure we all would like to be Don Shula and Tom Landry but I think those days are gone."

Landry got fired.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Landry got fired.

After 28 years. By a new owner.

 

[Batman]

I will not tolerate this Devlin Hodges erasure!

Anyway, here's Tomlin today on Harbaugh being fired.

"In terms of him being let go, unfortunately I just think it's a component of today's sports culture. ... More than anything I just think it's a larger example of today's sports culture in terms of not a lot of patience in the entertainment component of what it is that we do. There's just not a lot of longevity. I'm sure we all would like to be Don Shula and Tom Landry but I think those days are gone."

He makes it sound like those guys were the rule and not the exception. The average life expectancy of a coaching job in major college and pro sports is probably less than four years.
The list of coaches in all of sports history who have gotten to go out on their own terms is not a very long one.