The pre-Mike Tomlin era was a different universe

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Steelers have had just three head coaches since 1969 — Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. As a (relatively) young NFL fan myself, it feels like there's just never been a time when he wasn't the team's head coach.

What was the world like the last time the Steelers had a head coach who was *not* Mike Tomlin?

Simply put, the pre-Mike Tomlin era was a different universe

He was named the team's head coach on January 22, 2007. Here's what that universe looked like.

Twitter had just launched
So had the Nintendo Wii gaming console
We were still awaiting the release of the final installment of the Harry Potter series
Tom Brady had a perfect Super Bowl record (and Eli Manning was ringless)
iPhone? What's that? Yeah, those weren't a thing yet
"Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!" was still nine months away.
Facebook had not yet launched the most iconic game of all-time, Farmville
In fact, they had just begun allowing any user 13+ up with an email to register for the social media platform. Before that, the social media platform restricted the use of the website to those with a college-associated email address.
A panel of astronomers had just demoted Pluto from planet to
Irreplaceable by Beyoncé topped the Billboard charts
Floppy discs were still a thing, seriously

Is it time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move on from Mike Tomlin?

As we can see from the fascinating list above, it has been a long time since Tomlin has taken over the reins. Is he a more than capable head coach? Certainly. Since he was hired as the team's head coach, the Steelers have had the third-highest win rate (.630) in the NFL. He's never had a losing season. That track record speaks for itself.

However, there does sometimes come a moment where we (the universal "we") need a reset. The Steelers have outlived the Kevin Colbert era. Ben Roethlisberger retired and rookie Kenny Pickett took the crown... which he's still growing into, by the way. These just... feel like different times. It feels like a different era. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to start that new era with a new head coach. Eric Bieniemy, anyone??? Please?

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