If you watched football in America at any point between the year 1960 and the year 1988, there is no doubt that you have heard or seen something about former legendary hall of fame coach Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys.
Landry, who always donned his Sunday-best clothes on the sideline was best known for winning football games, and more iconically wearing a ‘funny hat’ known as a fedora on the sidelines throughout a majority of his career.
Landry strung together 20 straight winning seasons during his career, marking two decades of winning for the Dallas Cowboys, who under his tenure became known as ‘America’s Team’. Led by such legends as Roger Staubach, Bob Lily, Randy White, Mel Renfro, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, and other Hall of Famers, the Dallas Cowboys enjoyed relevancy and truly domination of public opinion during Landry’s time.
Ironically, the chief rival of the Dallas dynasty during Landry’s tenure, though there were many, were the Pittsburgh Steelers and their vaunted ‘Steel Curtain’ defense. Twice in the 1970s the Cowboys faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, losing both times.
That brings me to the subject of this particular article, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
Throughout his career, Pittsburgh Steelers coach, Mike Tomlin has shown a propensity for keeping his team in relevancy, much like Tom Landry, who came before him. Tomlin has acted as a steady hand, guiding the Steelers for more than 20 years, defeating Landry’s record of 20 straight winning seasons by achieving is 21st straight winning season this year.
Tomlin is poised to drag the Steelers into yet another playoff birth in a year, where Pittsburgh was not expected to be competitive in the slightest. Despite tremendous doubts from critics earlier in the season, Tomlin has arisen victorious.
Whether or not Tomlin spends the rest of his career in Pittsburgh, his remarkable run as coach of the Steelers will undoubtedly go down as one of the most successful tenures of any head coach since Bill Belichick.
Tomlin’s success nearly mirrors that of Tom Landry, in both time spent in the league, and in achievements.
Landry won two Super Bowls during his career. Tomlin has just one, but is knocking on the door of another. Both coaches presided over the careers of legendary quarterbacks. For Landry, it was Staubach, for Tomlin, it was Roethlisberger.
Both champions, and all Hall of Famers.
In the NFL, coaches are often replaced after just a few years. For any individual to last in an organization for multiple decades is a feat that is rarely achieved by anybody.
Tomlin is 182-103 all-time as a head coach in the NFL. He is 8-10 in the playoffs. Landry finished his career at 250-162-6, and 20-16 in the playoffs.
Though Tomlin’s numbers may be a bit more pedestrian than Tom Landry, he seems to be the closest thing to the legend coaching in today’s game.
What do you think about the comparison? Let us know in the comments!
