Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Both led their team(s) to two Super Bowls, each winning one of them. Vermeil built each SB team from scratch. Tomlin not quite the case but proved to be more than just an inheritor by making it through a dry spell, making that dry spell quite brief (just back-to-back 8-8 seasons), then winning yet again (as his predecessor, Cowher, did thru his own brief funk turn-of-century).

Tomlin has 7 playoff berths to his credit with an extra non-playoff winning season to boot (9-7 in 2009); Vermeil with six berths and an extra non-playoff winner himself (10-6 in 2005 w KC, his final season). Tomlin's post-season record is 8-6; Vermeil's 6-5. If Tomlin were to stop coaching immediately and never coach again, who goes down as the HC you'd rather have between these two?

Vermeil went to Super Bowls with teams that were junk before he got there. Tomlin won with a team that won shortly before he arrived. He also has had a top notch quarterback in place. Tomlin also has yet to figure out the Patriots. The Ravens, Broncos, Giants, and even the Jets have stopped the Patriots in the postseason from winning even more Super Bowls. The Steelers and Tomlin have not done that. Granted Tomlin only coached vs the Patriots in the postseason in January 2017 but his team stunk real bad.

I have to see Tomlin coach for an extended period of time without a top notch quarterback before I can give him a final grade.