Mike Tomlin Being Disrespected by Odds to Win Coach of the Year

The Pittsburgh Steelers' 8-8 record in the 2019 was disappointing, no doubt. But when you consider the fact that they played the year with their second and third-string quarterbacks, that's a pretty solid finish.

Getting Ben Roethlisberger back in 2020, the Steelers could be poised for a bounce-back year. And even still, head coach Mike Tomlin is being seriously disrespected by the odds to win the AP NFL Coach of the Year award, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. As he is currently tied for just 15th among all coaches, with +2600 odds.

Looking at the past winners from recent years, a clear trend emerges — you need to win a ton of games. Taking an underwhelming team and eking out a playoff berth isn't enough, as only one coach since 1991 has won the award with their team winning fewer than 10 games (Bruce Arians, who led the Colts to a 9-3 record in 12 games as interim head coach). In fact, that's the only season in the last decade that has seen a winner with fewer than 11 wins.

The Steelers absolutely have the potential to put together one of those big win totals. Looking at win total over/unders for the upcoming season, Pittsburgh ranks in the top-10 with a mark of 9.0.

Roethlisberger led the NFL in passing (5,129 yards) in his last full season (2018), and the Steelers had double-digit wins in three of Ben's last five seasons. He will have plenty of support on the other side of the ball in 2020 as well.

The Pittsburgh defense is what carried the team to a respectable record last year, checking in at third in Football Outsiders' DVOA metric, trailing just the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots.

Tomlin is a coach with a long track record of success, he's getting back his QB1, and he's coaching one of the best defenses in the league. That combination puts the Steelers in a terrific spot for the year ahead, and Tomlin's odds to win Coach of the Year should be much better.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.