Coming off an embarrassing Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens, rumors are flying about the future of Mike Tomlin, whose Pittsburgh Steelers have failed to make it beyond the first round of the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.
Legendary NFL Coach Jimmy Johnson Suggests Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy Trade Places
Fox NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson is adding fuel to the Tomlin fire by suggesting Johnson’s former Dallas Cowboys team send head coach Mike McCarthy to Pittsburgh in exchange for Tomlin.
Jimmy Johnson, on the Fox pregame show, just proposed a Tomlin-for-McCarthy swap between the #Steelers & #Cowboys…
…thoughts? pic.twitter.com/OdONVeKEJ5
— Chris Mack (@THEChrisMack) January 12, 2025
“I’ve got no inside information. But things are stale in Pittsburgh, things are stale in Dallas,” Johnson said. “Just food for thought: How about a coaching swap? Mike McCarthy is a Pittsburgh guy. Let him go to Pittsburgh; let Mike Tomlin go to Dallas. Both franchises would be excited.”
Even ardent Tomlin supporters have had enough, and frustrations are at an all-time high. After losing five straight playoff games, including yet another first-round exit, Tomlin’s 18-year streak of non-losing seasons is growing tiresome.
McCarthy, 61, was born and raised in Pittsburgh’s blue-collar neighborhood of Greenfield. Though McCarthy hasn’t lived in Pittsburgh since 1992, he still considers it home. He’s 2-4 against his hometown Steelers: 1-3 with the Green Bay Packers and 1-1 with the Cowboys. That one Packers win? Super Bowl 45, fittingly in Dallas.
Though McCarthy’s contract with the Cowboys expires, all signs point to Jerry Jones extending him. Tomlin was given a three-year extension in June, keeping him under contract through the 2027 season. Multiple sources have reported that the contract contains a no-trade clause.
Should Steelers Trade Head Coach Mike Tomlin?
Johnson is right about one thing: Things are definitely stale in Pittsburgh.
Trading Tomlin would be a bold gamble for the Steelers brass. And the Steelers brass aren’t known to be bold gamblers. The storied Pittsburgh franchise, owned by Art Rooney II, is as old-school as they come. After all, the Steelers have been in the Rooney family since his grandfather Art Rooney, affectionately known as “The Chief,” founded the team in 1933.
Since then, for better or worse, the Steelers have been the NFL’s poster child for stability.
You can count on one hand the number of coaches the Steelers have had since 1969: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Tomlin. Under Noll, hired in 1991, the Steelers had 15 winning seasons, which included 12 playoff appearances, nine division championships, and four Super Bowl championships in six years.
In Cowher’s 15 seasons, the Steelers captured eight division titles, earned 10 postseason playoff berths (six straight in his first six seasons), and played 21 playoff games. Cowher’s teams advanced to six AFC Championship Games and made two trips to the Super Bowl, with one Lombardi Trophy.
Since joining the Steelers in 2007, Tomlin has led them to a dozen playoff appearances, seven division titles, three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances, and a title in Super Bowl 43.
But the NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, and lately, Tomlin’s successes have been few and far between. While he’s qualified for the playoffs 12 times in his 18 seasons with the Steelers, Tomlin has now lost his first playoff game eight times.
Ownership fails to see (or publicly admit) it, but the Steelers desperately need a fresh, modern perspective that Tomlin can’t provide. Trading coaches is out of their nature, but it would benefit them.