So here we South Floridians are in January 2026, or maybe it’s really January 2007 and we’re in a time warp, NFL style.
Mike Tomlin just lost a wild-card game and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ faithful had enough. “Fire Tomlin” chants rang out as the host Steelers were getting blown out by the Houston Texans 30-6 on Jan. 12.
The next day, those fans got their wish in a roundabout way when Tomlin resigned.
At least Tomlin didn’t see planes buzzing over his stadium like vultures and trailing banners urging his exit, as Mike McDaniel did at Hard Rock Stadium this season.
Still, we’re talking about the sports franchise above all others known for stability and level-headedness. Tomlin’s contract runs for two more seasons, so the Steelers retain his rights. Early reports say Tomlin wants to take 2026 off from coaching, that maybe he’ll do TV, but sometimes plans change (as we can all see by the number of vacancies around the league).
Which naturally takes us to the Miami Dolphins.
If their search for a successor to McDaniel was shaken when the Baltimore Ravens made John Harbaugh a free agent, imagine now being faced with a coaching cycle that includes Harbaugh and Tomlin.
That’s the two most-tenured coaches in the league (until now).
That’s two of the top four winningest active coaches.
That’s a big, hang on a second.
Flash back to 2007. The Dolphins passed on Tomlin because they found him to be “too hip-hop”, as one of those involved in the decision told The Miami Herald. It’s a phrase that lives in Dolphins infamy. You know the rest. Tomlin to Steelers, Tomlin to the top of the Super Bowl mountain. Miami hiring Cam Cameron, who’s remembered for two things: 1) Going 1-15 and 2) “Fail forward fast,” a phrase rooted in logic but incapable of avoiding tripping over itself. (Sort of like the Dol- … oh, never mind.)
Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season in NFL
So what if I told you the Dolphins might have a shot to hire the NFL coach who has won more games than any other active coach except Andy Reid?
A coach who has never had a losing season, something not even Don Shula could say?
A coach who at 53 is 10 years younger than Harbaugh?
Before you answer …
What if I told you the Dolphins might have a shot at the first coach to lose five consecutive playoff games by double digits (according to ESPN)?
A coach whose last playoff win came when Tua Tagovailoa was in high school?
A coach whose offense has ranked in the bottom third each of the past seven years?
If you guessed that Mike Tomlin is the coach in both scenarios, you’re right. Point being, it’s all how you care to frame it. The season ends, there’s one head coach worth a darn and 31 on the hot seat, something Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers found funny (and not in a good way) after this loss.
“When I first got in the league, there wouldn’t be conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat,” Rodgers told reporters, referring to both Tomlin and his coach in Green Bay, Matt LaFleur, whose own job security was in doubt for a minute or two. “But the way that the league is covered now and the way that there’s snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they’re talking about, to me that’s an absolute joke.”
Dolphins fans waiting for quarter century for playoff win
If it’s understandable that Steelers fans are frustrated that they haven’t celebrated a playoff win since 2016, what to make of Dolphins fans whose wait is the longest in the NFL at a quarter century?
Coaching is all about doing the best you can with what you have. Betcha no one chanting “Fire Tomlin” did this bit of sobering math, which shows Tomlin is a victim of his own success: Since he won the Super Bowl, his average first-round pick has been No. 21.9. Yes, he still managed to find a T.J. Watt at No. 30, but finding a long-term answer at quarterback while picking that late requires the kind of good fortune Harbaugh had with Lamar Jackson.
Still, Tomlin gets it.
“When you don’t get it done, words are cheap,” he said after the loss to the Texans. “It’s about what you do or you don’t do. And so, I appreciate the question, but people talk too much in our business. You either do or you don’t.”
The distasteful hip-hop fiasco seems a lifetime ago. It pre-dates Stephen Ross’ ownership of the club. You’d like to think it wouldn’t affect Tomlin’s image of the Dolphins, but only he can decide that, just as only he can decide if he wants to pursue another coaching job or TV, should it come to that.
Rodgers just knows Tomlin shouldn’t be in position to have to justify his job.
“Mike T. has had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years,” Rodgers said. “And more than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change, but there’s a lot of pressure that comes from the outside and obviously that sways decisions from time to time. But it’s not how I would do things and not how the league used to be.”
Not quite. Rodgers needs reminding that when Mike McCarthy left Green Bay, it wasn’t via a call made by Mike McCarthy. Go back even further and the ashes of history will tell you about that plane circling over, yes, even Shula, urging him to “let Jimmy take over,” a reference to Jimmy Johnson, who did just that.
Coaches earning the right to go out on their own terms? What a ridiculous idea.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Could Mike Tomlin also be a possibility for Miami Dolphins? | Habib
Reporting by Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
