The Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates have 16 total championships between themselves, but none of these teams have won a title since 2017. All three teams head coaches/managers have been running their teams for a total of 32 years and in that span have won three championships. 

So why are they still here? 

Steelers: Mike Tomlin has been with the Steelers for 18 seasons, and according to the coaching tracker on sportingnews.com, is the longest tenured head coach in the NFL. 

Tomlin in his 18 years has never had a losing record in the regular season. 

While Tomlin has had a great amount of success in the regular season, the Steelers have only won three postseason games since 2011. The last playoff win came in 2017 when the Steelers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 18-16 when kicker Chris Boswell kicked six field goals.  

So the question becomes, are the Steelers keeping Tomlin because of his ability to win, or because they have a tradition of loyalty? 

The Steelers ownership has shown true loyalty in recent history as they have only had three head coaches since 1969. Brooke Pryor, an ESPN sportswriter, said on Nov. 2, 2023 in an article titled, “How ‘Fire Canada’ took off, and why Steelers OC became a scapegoat” when the Steelers fired former offensive coordinator Matt Canada last season, it was the first time since 1941 the Steelers had fired a member of the coaching staff in the middle of a season. 

Of the last three coaches, Tomlin has the second most wins, but three less championships and eight less wins. Tomlin also just signed a three year deal this past offseason. 

Winning in the postseason is what matters most besides winning championships not only for yourself but what all the things it brings to the team as a whole. Tomlin, while making the playoffs three of the last four years, hasn’t won a playoff game in almost eight seasons. It is time to move on and help bring home another Lombardi trophy to Pittsburgh. 

Pirates: This is Derek Shelton’s first team in management role for the MLB, and he has never had a winning season or made the postseason. 

In his five years managing for the Pirates, they have won 294 of his 708 games, which is about a 42-percent winning percentage. The past two seasons the Pirates have finished with the same record of 76-86 and finished last in the National League Central division. 

Again the question remains, why is Shelton still in charge when the Pirates haven’t had any sort of progress? 

Reported by ESPN on Sept. 11, 2024, general manager Ben Cherington of the Pirates stated that he expects Shelton to return next season, and that he is the right person to manage this team in 2025. 

Before entering the all-star break the Pirates were in playoff contention as they were just two and a half games back from a wildcard game at the end of July. However, the Pirates went 8-19 in the month of August and 13-14 in September knocking them well out of the playoffs. 

Cherington also said to the media that this Pirates team is better than now two seasons ago, but still needs to be better. In order to do that, moving on from Shelton as the manager would be one step forward to fixing the problem for the team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1979 and a playoff game since 2013. 

Shelton has brought nothing new or helped set up the Pittsburgh Pirates towards winning another World Series, however it isn’t just him who needs to be let go; that list is longer, but losing Shelton and hiring a new manager to help the team would help in the long run. 

Penguins: Mike Sullivan arguably has been the most successful of these three coaches with his two Stanley Cups, however he falls in with the others with not having a playoff series win since 2018. 

The Penguins had a 16-year streak where they had made the playoffs from 2007-2022, but that streak has snapped since they have missed the playoffs the last two seasons. 

Sullivan came in as the new head coach for the Penguins in 2015, and in his first three years he won 130 games and won his two Stanley Cups. In the last six seasons however, he has never had more than 47 wins in a season and has won one playoff series. 

In those two years, the Penguins have had an older team, with a lack of younger talent. 

Eliteprospects.com says on their online database that when the Penguins won their two championships, the team’s average age was 28.27. Now, the average age is 29.9 years old which is the second oldest team in the NHL. 

Sullivan, unlike the other head coaches and managers, is entering the last year of his contract. Whether he is to be re-signed after this season is still unknown. Despite his past success, Sullivan’s job should be in question due to the lack of success or even making the playoffs and winning playoff games. 

To me, this is the make or break year for Sullivan, if the Penguins do not win a playoff series or contest for a Stanley Cup, the Penguins should move on. 

In my opinion, all three teams have entered a new era of sports that is constantly adapting. It is time for Pittsburgh sports to adapt and move on from these coaches and help bring or at least contest for championships.