Re: Who was better: Bill Cowher or Mike Tomlin?
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2026 11:56 am
The last 'breath', to me, of Tomlin's Steelers at least offering some hope of a SB-run was 2017 (11-0 start in 2020 debatable though, at the time, I didn't mistaken us for being '#1'; real solid but not...'the best'). In '17 they finished 2nd-seed at 13-3, "should have" beaten the Pats late in the season, and though I thought Pats would win in a hypo-AFCCG, a CCG berth I thought was in the works for the 'Burgh where, hey, anything would be possible; at least they're IN it (I miss those days; don't know what you got 'til its gone).
Knowing what we know now, the conclusion of that very year would have been a good time for Tomlin to step down. Losing to Jax (again) in the divisional as we did (no defense) had to serve as a sign of what was to come. I have opined in this thread, below, that I created years back that had...George Steinbrenner been in-charge of the Steelers that Tomlin would have been fired after being Tebow-ed at 8-8 Denver, or even a year earlier after losing SBXLV to Green Bay...
https://mail.profootballresearchers.org ... 6e7b4c7261
You can call Steelers' ownership, or the Bengals, or '60-thru-'65 Cowboys, the antithesis of George. But what-if 'normal' (middle-ground) ownership was in-play in the 'Burgh all this time? I'm really not too sure either of the three get let go all too much earlier anyway if at all.
Noll? Because of his four World Championships, I think enough momentum from that pushes him well into the '80s, with '82-thru-'84 adding extra wind to his sails. My guess is that he could have been let go, by a 'normal' owner, at the conclusion of the '88 season.
Cowher? Yes with the home AFCCG defeats, but I'd like to think that at least making it to SBXXX, and giving Dallas a game, should have plowed him through that brief turn-of-century slump. 2001 & '02 gets him through 2003, then 15-1 the following year and...2005 and he's set for at least a few more years if he didn't want to step down after 2006. And all with the understanding that he never, really, had a QB most of his time there.
Tomlin? Again with the if you knew in-advance what would happen after 2017. But if you don't know, his '14-thru-'17 playoff run may have gotten him to 2020 with that 11-0 start, perhaps, adding more wind. And those two SBs (one of them a WIN) within his first four seasons gives him quite that initial push on through his '12/'13 spell. Maybe he gets let go a few years ago by a 'normal' owner.
If Eddie D was Steelers' owner in any of these scenarios? A totally different topic. He was tough, no NFL owner like him, but he was still no George.
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Mike McCarthy...I wasn't rooting for the decision. A SB-champ, yeah, but that was long ago. Hasn't won anything big since. It's like Doc Rivers not winning that other Title with the Sixers, John Tortorella not winning that other Title with the Flyers.
But the decision is made. He is a native Pittsburgher. Maybe this could, possibly, be the destination for he to win another Big One. I think Aaron, if he wants to, should play at least another year for the Steelers. Hey, he and McCarthy get to reunite whilst grooming-up Howard or whatever other 'future'-QB(s) that may get brought in. He can coach! And not bad with QBs. If he doesn't work out early on, it's not as if he's real young. His time may only be for just a few years.
Again, I wasn't rooting for him. I was hoping for that young coach from the outside as was the case with the last three. But the decision was made. I won't pout about it. I'll support and forge myself some optimism until its apparent that it won't work out.
Go Steelers!
Knowing what we know now, the conclusion of that very year would have been a good time for Tomlin to step down. Losing to Jax (again) in the divisional as we did (no defense) had to serve as a sign of what was to come. I have opined in this thread, below, that I created years back that had...George Steinbrenner been in-charge of the Steelers that Tomlin would have been fired after being Tebow-ed at 8-8 Denver, or even a year earlier after losing SBXLV to Green Bay...
https://mail.profootballresearchers.org ... 6e7b4c7261
You can call Steelers' ownership, or the Bengals, or '60-thru-'65 Cowboys, the antithesis of George. But what-if 'normal' (middle-ground) ownership was in-play in the 'Burgh all this time? I'm really not too sure either of the three get let go all too much earlier anyway if at all.
Noll? Because of his four World Championships, I think enough momentum from that pushes him well into the '80s, with '82-thru-'84 adding extra wind to his sails. My guess is that he could have been let go, by a 'normal' owner, at the conclusion of the '88 season.
Cowher? Yes with the home AFCCG defeats, but I'd like to think that at least making it to SBXXX, and giving Dallas a game, should have plowed him through that brief turn-of-century slump. 2001 & '02 gets him through 2003, then 15-1 the following year and...2005 and he's set for at least a few more years if he didn't want to step down after 2006. And all with the understanding that he never, really, had a QB most of his time there.
Tomlin? Again with the if you knew in-advance what would happen after 2017. But if you don't know, his '14-thru-'17 playoff run may have gotten him to 2020 with that 11-0 start, perhaps, adding more wind. And those two SBs (one of them a WIN) within his first four seasons gives him quite that initial push on through his '12/'13 spell. Maybe he gets let go a few years ago by a 'normal' owner.
If Eddie D was Steelers' owner in any of these scenarios? A totally different topic. He was tough, no NFL owner like him, but he was still no George.
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Mike McCarthy...I wasn't rooting for the decision. A SB-champ, yeah, but that was long ago. Hasn't won anything big since. It's like Doc Rivers not winning that other Title with the Sixers, John Tortorella not winning that other Title with the Flyers.
But the decision is made. He is a native Pittsburgher. Maybe this could, possibly, be the destination for he to win another Big One. I think Aaron, if he wants to, should play at least another year for the Steelers. Hey, he and McCarthy get to reunite whilst grooming-up Howard or whatever other 'future'-QB(s) that may get brought in. He can coach! And not bad with QBs. If he doesn't work out early on, it's not as if he's real young. His time may only be for just a few years.
Again, I wasn't rooting for him. I was hoping for that young coach from the outside as was the case with the last three. But the decision was made. I won't pout about it. I'll support and forge myself some optimism until its apparent that it won't work out.
Go Steelers!