After 19 seasons as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin announced he was stepping down. The Steelers now enter the mix in one of the most crowded NFL coaching carousels in recent memory.
Who will that coach be? Let’s break down the odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Steelers next head coach odds
Mike Tomlin was the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL before announcing that he would be stepping down after the Steelers’ postseason loss to the Texans. Tomlin went on a remarkable 19-year run without having a losing record and won a Super Bowl in Pittsburgh. Those will be massive shoes to fill for whoever takes the job next. However, there are already a lot of great candidates on the market to replace Tomlin.
This has been a wild NFL coaching cycle so far. Tomlin was the longest-tenured NFL head coach, but the second-longest tenured coach, John Harbaugh, is also now on the job market. Not to mention Mike McDaniel, Kevin Stefanski, Brian Daboll and others who are newly or still available as well. However, the current favorite to get the job has never been an NFL head coach. Rams Defensive Coordinator Chris Shula is the current favorite to be the next Steelers head coach at +190. Shula comes from a highly respected NFL family and has worked his way up through Sean McVay’s coaching staff. He has a great pedigree and at 39 years old, he would bring fresh energy to the organization.
Unsurprisingly, most of the top candidates are defensive-minded coaches. After Shula, the man with the next-best odds is Vikings DC Brian Flores. Flores has head coaching experience and is respected as one of the best defensive coaches in football. It would be serendipitous for the Steelers to hire Flores, as Mike Tomlin was the Vikings’ defensive coordinator when he was hired away to be the new Steelers head coach in 2007. Other prominent defensive coordinators around the league are expected to be candidates, including the 49ers’ Robert Saleh, the Chargers’ Jesse Minter and the Broncos’ Vance Joseph.
The Steelers are a gritty, defensive-minded organization, and always have been. Tomlin, Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll, the three Steelers head coaches of the past half-century, were all defensive coaches before coming to the Steelers. However, Mike McDaniel, Klint Kubiak and Kevin Stefanski are all highly respected offensive coaches who could bring a new philosophy to this organization. The Steelers are likely moving on from Aaron Rodgers and could be in the market to draft a rookie quarterback. It could make sense to target an offensive-minded head coach to develop that new quarterback.
One surprise name that appeared on the odds board is Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti. Cignetti has risen the ranks in the college game and won everywhere that he goes. He is just one win away from bringing a national title to Indiana, once one of the worst programs in the country before he arrived. Cignetti has no experience at the NFL level, but at 64 years old, now is the time to make the jump if he has any interest. Cignetti has a great setup at Indiana and could try to win multiple national championships with the Hoosiers. However, the Steelers should at least give Cignetti a call to gauge his interest. The market seems to expect them to.
My pick for the Steelers to hire would be Brian Flores. He is arguably the best defensive coordinator in football and is revered by his players. Flores learned under Bill Belichick in New England and has now also worked under one of the best offensive minds in football, Kevin Stefanski. He has head coaching experience with the Dolphins, and Flores also spent one season as a defensive assistant in Pittsburgh after his head coaching tenure, before heading to Minnesota. He was given an unfair shake by Miami in his first head coaching stint and still has the chance to be a great NFL head coach. The Steelers won a Super Bowl the last time that they hired the Vikings’ defensive coordinator away, so why not try it again?
