A new favorite has emerged for the NFL Coach of the Year Award.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has done an incredible job in the Steel City this year. He’s proving yet again why he’s one of the best coaches of this generation. With the Steelers in position to take the AFC North, everyone’s taking notice.
ProFootballTalk.com noted that the Steelers head coach is now the new betting favorite to win the NFL Coach of the Year Award. According to PFT, his odds sit at +225 at DraftKings, which makes him a cushy favorite right now.
Tomlin has never won the NFL Coach of the Year Award, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t succeeded—and succeeded greatly. There’s a reason why he’s still one of only three coaches the Steelers have had since the AFL-NFL merger after the 1969 season.
Tomlin set an NFL record for coaching the most consecutive seasons without a losing season, 17 to be exact. He’s 181-102-2 all-time as the Steelers’ head coach.
Bill Cowher is the lone Steelers head coach who won the NFL Coach of the Year Award. He won it twice in his illustrious career, in 1992 and 2004. Cowher’s prowess in both years brought the Steelers to the postseason. In 2004, he coached a team led by rookie Ben Roethlisberger, which went 15-1 and made it to the AFC Championship Game.
Tomlin and the Steelers still have a lot to prove. They’ll have to finish out in the competitive AFC North Division with Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens hot on their tail.
Tomlin’s Steelers also haven’t won a playoff game in nearly a decade. Their last win in the playoffs came against the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2016 NFL playoffs. Just a few months later, those Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes, so it feels like a completely different world.
We’ll see if Tomlin can make his own personal history and once again establish himself as one of the top coaches in the NFL.
Pittsburgh will face the 2-8 Cleveland Browns this weekend, offering another chance at a crucial division win.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022