Mike Tomlin is one of the NFL’s most storied and beloved head coaches with 154 career wins and a career-winning percentage of .630.  Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers have made two Super Bowl appearances, won one in Super Bowl XLIII, and never lost a season — which is unusual in the NFL today. He has made his name in years of repeat playoff success in the fierce AFC North — reaching the postseason 10 times in 17 seasons. This season the Steelers (10-7 in 2018 after an offseason that saw them make the playoffs, again, a solid confirmation) Tomlin’s direction through an otherwise brutal year and postseason run is also impressive.

Mike Tomlin’s had a decorated career as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but not everyone believes him. He’s also been booed to the extreme by Steelers great Terry Bradshaw, who was more than happy to take Tomlin at his word.

A decade back, Bradshaw had this to say about Tomlin’s run on FS1’s Speak for Yourself. “I don’t think he’s a great coach at all,” Bradshaw said. “He’s a nice coach. To me, and I’ve said this, he’s a great cheerleader guy. I don’t know what he does. But I don’t think that he’s a great coach at all. His name never even pops in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL”

“Mike Tomlin is winning football games, but at the same time, Super Bowls are disappearing, and that’s my criticism. How can you have this great offense and you being a defensive guy, and I think that football team should have been in another Super Bowl or two. How could they not be?” Bradshaw said. “And to lose at home to Jacksonville — I don’t care how good of a run Jacksonville is on, I don’t care how Jacksonville played New England in the championship game. You don’t lose 45-42. Are you kidding me? In a championship game?”

Bradshaw’s inability to coach Tomlin isn’t disavowing, but Tomlin’s numbers bear testing. He has made it impossible for the Steelers not to be in the playoff picture, year after year. Whether Bradshaw thinks Tomlin is a “great coach” or not, the numbers are different.

Tomlin’s answer: “I own it, I’m capable“

Tomlin’s never flinched at critique or it’s a loss. This is Mike Tomlin’s coaching genius at work as he has taken the Pittsburgh Steelers to 9-3 in 2024 to claim first place in the AFC North. This is the Steelers’ 21st winless season since the Dallas Cowboys (1965-85) and they have the NFL record for most wins by a team in 21 years. Yet accusations that he wasn’t a “great coach” came out of him in the same silently unspoken way. 

“I enjoy the urgency, I don’t make excuses for the failures, I own it but I also feel like I am capable,” Tomlin said. “As long as I am awarded the opportunity to do that, I will continue. But I do certainly understand the frustrations. I am wired, and I’m not a big-time comfort seeker. I’ve learned to say less. When things are going good, I say even less.“. This highlights Tomlin’s self-responsibility and his faith in himself.

Tomlin, in the heat and the indignation, has not given up on the job. “I’ve learned to say less, when things are going good I say even less,” Mike Tomlin is always presenting, season after season, that he’s not just a “nice coach” or “great cheerleader” but also a winner who has earned his place in the NFL. And Terry Bradshaw, who is not so sanguine, Tomlin’s legacy is performance, not opinion. To quote him  “I can’t give you all the ingredients to the hot dog, you might not like it.“