In the wake of another one-and-done Pittsburgh Steelers playoff appearance, there’s been a lot of discussion concerning Mike Tomlin’s immediate future.
Is a split between the legendary coach and one of the NFL’s marquee franchises coming? Are they going to stick it out and perhaps become more ambitious (or just grow more stagnant)? Is there even any real inkling the Steelers are displeased with Tomlin’s results lately, especially given that he’s never had a losing season in 18 years on the job?
Jimmy Johnson had a, uh … unique take on the situation. And by unique, I mean nonsensical at best, and “there’s no way he thoughts about this for more than five minutes before sharing it” at worst.
Johnson suggested that the Steelers and similarly stale Dallas Cowboys should swap Tomlin for Mike McCarthy. To shake things up.
At the risk of hyperbole and with all due respect to the “Music City Miracle,” that would be one of the biggest lateral moves in NFL history.
"Things are stale in Pittsburgh. Things are stale in Dallas… How about a coaching swap? Mike McCarthy is a Pittsburgh guy. Let him go to [the Steelers]. Let Mike Tomlin go to [the Cowboys]. Both franchises would be excited." – Jimmy Johnson #NFL pic.twitter.com/M8yev28h0E
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 12, 2025
I understand Johnson’s thought process here.
Part of the reason things get stale on otherwise stable NFL teams is a coach’s message might not resonate the same way it used to. (Never mind that McCarthy does not nearly have the longevity of Tomlin, making it amusing to compare the two in this sense.)
But both the Steelers and Cowboys, if they move on from their current coaches, should be aiming higher. A shake-up should not mean immediately jumping on a retread without an extensive hiring process.
Alas, what do I know?
Because now that Johnson put this out into the universe, I’m realizing it would actually be very NFL for the Steelers and Cowboys to make this kind of coaching swap. Prepare yourselves for the least surprising and least imaginative move to arrive in the coming weeks.
