What Teams did Mike Tomlin Coach?

Michael Pettaway Tomlin is a football coach from America. He is presently the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). He has gathered around 24 years of experience as a coach in the NFL. Born in Hampton, Virginia, United States on March 15, 1972, Mike Tomlin has previous experience playing football as a wide receiver. He later transferred his experiences into becoming a football coach. Mike Tomlin has won Super Bowls, namely Super Bowl XXXVII (2002 NFL season) and Super Bowl XLIII (2008 NFL season). Mike Tomlin is notable for not having a losing record for 18 consecutive seasons as a head coach. This is regarded as the longest streak presently in the NFL.

Mike Tomlin’s head coaching career boasts of having a win-loss record of 183-107-2 with a win percentage of .630. In the postseason, he has a win-loss record of 8-10 with a win percentage of .444. He has the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2024 NFL playoffs as of January 2025.

Teams Coached by Mike Tomlin

Like any other NFL head coach today, Mike Tomlin also had his coaching roots in college football. From there, he transitioned into the NFL.

College

Mike Tomlin started his coaching career as a wide receiver coach under head coach Bill Stewart at Virginia Military Institute in 1995. In 1996, he coached the defensive backs and the special teams at the University of Memphis as a graduate assistant. He also coached at the University of Tennessee at Martin before he was recruited by Arkansas State University as a defensive backs coach in 1997. After two seasons there, he was recruited by the University of Cincinnati as a defensive backs coach.

At Cincinnati, he took the team from Rank 111 to Rank 61 in his first season. During his second season, they ranked number 8 in interceptions and number 4 in turnovers in 2000.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mike Tomlin made his NFL debut with this team. He joined the team in 2001 as a defensive backs coach and worked under head coach Tony Dungy. He guided and prepared the defensive backs of the team and helped the team to lead in total defense from 2002-2005.

His biggest success with the team came when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2023, by beating the Oakland Raiders with a score of 48-21. He stayed with the team till 2005 after which he departed from the team.

Minnesota Vikings

In 2006, the Minnesota Vikings under their head coach Brad Childress recruited Mike Tomlin to be their defensive coordinator. Under his guidance, the defense of the team improved and they ranked eighth in defense. Against the run, they ranked as having the best defense but against the pass, they ranked as having the worst defense.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers brought in Mike Tomlin as their head coach in 2007. Under his coaching and guidance, the team had the number-one-ranked defense in 2007. Additionally, they also won the AFC North Division Championship and ended the season with a win-loss record of 10-6 in his first season. They were also the 5th team in the NFL winning their first four games by 20 points in 2007. For the 2008 NFL season, Mike Tomlin helped his team earn their second AFC North Division title. Furthermore, they also led the league in total defense with 237.2 points, and passing defense with 156.9 points. They finished number 2 in rush defense with 80.3 points. The team finished the season with a win-loss record of 12-4 and won Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009, by defeating the Arizona Cardinals (via Steelers.com).

In 2009, the team's offense also ranked 7th in the NFL. Players like Hines Ward, Rashard Mendenhall, and Santonio Holmes also gained praise for their performance throughout the season. They eventually ended the season with a win-loss record of 9-7 and missed the playoffs. In the 2010 NFL season, Mike Tomlin guided the team to establish a record that did not allow their opponents to rush more than 75 yards during their first eight games. He also led the team to the Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011, but they were beaten by the Green Bay Packers with a score of 31-25 (via Steelers.com).

During the 2011 NFL season, Mike Tomlin as a head coach won his 50th game by defeating the Cincinnati Bengals with a score of 24-17 on November 13, 2011. However, their season came to an end in the Wild Card round when they were defeated by the Denver Broncos with a score of 29-23 in an overtime game.

Under the coaching and guidance of Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers had the top-ranked overall defense with 275.8 yards per game in the 2012 NFL season. They were also 1st in passing defense with 185.2 yards per game.

The second half of the 2013 NFL season saw one of the best careers of Mike Tomlin as a head coach. The team completed the season with a win-loss record of 6-2 despite missing the playoffs (via Steelers.com). However, this season, he also had to deal with controversy surrounding a kick return in a game against the Baltimore Ravens. The NFL fined him $100,000.

In the 2014 NFL season, Mike Tomlin produced one of the best-quality offensive units for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team scored 436 points, passed a total of 6577 yards, passing 301.6 yards per game, and made 379 total first downs. Mike Tomlin had to deal with a lot of injuries in the 2015 NFL season. Nevertheless, he led the team to 2nd position in the AFC North with a win-loss record of 10-6. For the season, they ranked number 3 in total offense in the NFL while the defense achieved 48 sacks which was the third most number of sacks in 2015. Mike Tomlin won the 100th game as a head coach in 2016 (via Steelers.com). They won the AFC North Title with a win-loss record of 11-5. They even beat the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card Round and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round. Unfortunately, they fell to the New England Patriots with a score of 36-17.

For the 2017 NFL season, the team again won the AFC North title. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated them in the Divisional Round with a score of 45-42. In the 2018 NFL season, Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger led the team to perform well with a win-loss-draw record of 9-6-1 despite missing the playoffs. For the 2019 NFL season, losing Ben Roethlisberger had an unfavorable effect on the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a result, they failed to perform well in the season with a win-loss record of 8-8.

In the 2020 NFL season, the team completed the season with a win-loss record of 12-4 but was defeated by the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card Round. For the 2021 NFL season, the team led the NFL in sacks with 55. Players like Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth were considered the best rookies as they established many rookie franchise records. The team finished with a win-loss-draw record of 9-7-1 (via Steelers.com).

In the 2022 NFL season, Mike Tomlin improved the team’s conditions. Their defense improved and tied for the second most interceptions with a score of 12. They also posted 272.9 yards per game this season. With this, he became one of the four head coaches in the NFL with 160 victories in his career. Furthermore, he has defeated 31 NFL teams in his career (via Steelers.com). Tomlin has led Pittsburgh to a 10-7 record in consecutive seasons (2023 and 2024).