Mike Tomlin steps away from Steelers: Here's how much the NFL, and the world, have changed since his 2007 hire
- - Mike Tomlin steps away from Steelers: Here's how much the NFL, and the world, have changed since his 2007 hire
Jack BaerJanuary 14, 2026 at 12:56 AM
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The Mike Tomlin era ended for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, after 19 seasons, 12 trips to the playoffs and the Super Bowl XLIII title.
Tomlin was the NFL's longest-tenured head coach, by an enormous margin in the brief window following the Baltimore Ravens' firing of John Harbaugh. Despite years of frustrations in the playoffs toward the end, Tomlin leaves Pittsburgh having never had a losing season and playing one game — yes, one — in which his team was already eliminated from the playoffs.
Only a handful of coaches have stuck with a single team for longer. One of them, Chuck Noll, worked for the Steelers, and between him, Tomlin and Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh has had only three head coaches since 1969. The Las Vegas Raiders are about to hire their third head coach since 2024.
On Jan. 27, 2007, the Steelers promoted the 34-year-old Tomlin from defensive coordinator to head coach after the retirement of Cowher. To get a sense of how long ago that is, here's what else was transpiring around that date:
Peyton Manning had yet to win a Super Bowl.
Lane Kiffin was announced as the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders four days earlier. He is now on his sixth different job since then.
The New England Patriots had recently wrapped up a 16-0 regular season. You probably know what happened the next month.
The top picks of that year's NFL Draft: JaMarcus Russell, Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas. Two of them worked out.
Barry Bonds had yet to become MLB's all-time home run leader.
Stephen Curry was a freshman at Davidson.
Tim Tebow was a freshman at Florida.
Mike Tomlin was Steelers head coach for nearly two decades. (Photo by Jason Cohn /Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images) (Icon Sports Wire via Getty Images) -
Novak Djokovic was more than a year away from his first Grand Slam title.
Usain Bolt was months from his first world championship medals.
FC Barcelona were the reigning Champions League winners — and had a rising star named Lionel Messi.
Lamine Yamal, future FC Barcelona star, was born that year.
Apple announced the iPhone the same month.
Barack Obama announced his first presidential campaign a month later.
Netflix, long known for DVD rentals through the mail, launched a video streaming service that month.
The Nintendo Wii had been launched two months ago.
Martin Scorsese was on the verge of his first Academy Award for "The Departed."
Suzanne Collins, a freelance writer on the children's show "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!" was working on the manuscript that would become "The Hunger Games."
Source: “AOL Sports”
