With Mike Tomlin joining John Harbaugh in the unemployment line this week, the NFL quickly lost its two longest-tenured coaches.
Harbaugh was the Baltimore Ravens’ head coach for 18 seasons, and Tomlin held his post with the Steelers for 19. As solid as Harbaugh’s teams always were, and as well-liked as he was in Baltimore, his Ravens reached the AFC Championship Game just once since his title run of 2012.
Similarly, the Tomlin-coached Steelers were always solid, always a little bit scary, yet hadn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, hadn’t reached a Super Bowl since 2010 and hadn’t won a Lombardi since his second season as head coach (2008).
That kind of patience from the Ravens and Steelers might be admirable, but it also might be an outlier.
Currently, the longest-tenured coach is Andy Reid, who has spent 13 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Reid has a resume that effectively allows him to name his own end date, but he turns 68 in March, and it’s unclear how much longer he wants to coach. After Reid, will anyone manage to coax a similarly long tenure from an NFL franchise? After all, when it comes to chasing championships, patience is understandably short these days.
While you ponder that, take a crack at this week’s quiz, which touches on Tomlin, the NFL playoffs and much more. And while you’re at it, check out our daily Connections: Sports Edition, too.
