Hines Ward Reveals Critical Thing Missing from Mike Tomlin’s Resume
Mike Tomlin has one Super Bowl trophy on the shelf during his time in Pittsburgh, but Hines Ward thinks he needs one more.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a Super Bowl since defeating the Arizona Cardinals XLIII, and that is Mike Tomlin’s first and only Super Bowl win so far. Though Pittsburgh is tied with the Patriots with six wins in their team history, the playoff success has not come recently under Tomlin, as they have failed to win a playoff game since 2016.
Recently in an interview with Schmo, Hines Ward discussed Tomlin’s entire tenure with the team, and while he gave praise to his former coach, he also acknowledged that there is one thing missing – a second Super Bowl title.
“The standard in Pittsburgh is all about winning Super Bowls. We’re very blessed. We won six Super Bowls in our organization. Tied along with the New England Patriots, but we haven’t won in a while, so that’s the one thing that probably he’s [Mike Tomlin] lacking on his shelves of great accomplishments and bringing another Super Bowl back to the city of Pittsburgh,” Ward said.
Tomlin has the 11th-most wins in NFL history and just completed his NFL record 17th consecutive season without a losing record to start his career, but has never won the AP NFL Coach of the Year Award. He did receive one vote this season for his job.
A recent anonymous player poll led by Fox Sports revealed that Mike Tomlin is one of the most highly regarded head coaches in the NFL. Tomlin’s ability to relate to players and earn their respect has been a mainstay for him throughout his coaching career.
Tomlin came in second to Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell in the category framed as “other than your own coach, which current NFL coach would you most like to play for.” Campbell got six votes, while Tomlin got five. It’s not a surprise the Steelers coach received high praise from players.
And when asked about his continued faith in Tomlin this offseason, them president Art Rooney II gave a clear answer — it was about his management skills.
“I think the players still respond to Mike. That’s No. 1,” Rooney said last Monday in a press conference to a select group of Pittsburgh media members. “He still has the key characteristics that we saw when we hired him. He can keep the attention of a group of 20-year-olds for a whole season, keep them in the fight the whole way. Still feel good about Mike. Obviously if I didn’t, we’d make a change. If Mike wasn’t able to lead us to a championship, he wouldn’t be here. That’s why he’s here.”
The 51-year-old is entering his 18th season as the Steelers head coach. He has a career record of 173-100-2.
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