Only six coaches in the NFL have been with their respective franchises for 10 years or longer. Three of those coaches are employed in the AFC North.
Marvin Lewis is entering his 16th season with the Cincinnati Bengals. Only Bill Belichick — who is entering his 18th season with the New England Patriots — has been with a franchise longer.
Mike Tomlin is entering Year 12 in Pittsburgh, and John Harbaugh is heading into his 11th season with Baltimore.
And then there is Hue Jackson, who is still employed by Cleveland despite being 1-31 in two seasons.
The Steelers have won the last two division titles and three of the last four. They’ve been the best team in the AFC North and one of the best in the league over the last few years. Both Baltimore and Cincinnati have fallen behind, and Cleveland still isn’t close to being a contender.
Even though Pittsburgh is the team to beat, the AFC North will be a very entertaining and competitive division in 2018. Some of the best rivalries in the league are in the division, and it should be another fascinating season in the AFC North.
Throughout the month of June, we are ranking the coaches in each division. We’ve already ranked coaches in the AFC East, NFC North, NFC East, NFC South and NFC West. At the end of the month, we will rank the top five coaches in the NFL.
AFC North Coach Rankings
- Hue Jackson, Cleveland Browns
Winning in Cleveland definitely isn’t easy. The Browns haven’t had back-to-back winning seasons since the 1980s. In fact, Cleveland has only had two winning seasons since returning to the league in 1999.
Nonetheless, it’s still very surprising that Hue Jackson is returning for a third year. Jackson has won one game in two seasons. One. Game. A 1-31 record in two seasons is nearly unfathomable. The Browns completed only the second 0-16 season in NFL history last year.
Jackson was 8-8 in one season with the Oakland Raiders, but even that decent season gives him an overall record of 9-39. How many wins does he need to earn another season? The Browns are still clearly rebuilding, and top draft pick Baker Mayfield might not be ready this season.
I’ve never seen #Browns Hue Jackson this happy in minicamp before. He knows he has some players
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) June 12, 2018
There’s a good chance Jackson won’t return for a fourth season. But then again, he already defied the odds by not being fired after an 0-16 campaign.
- Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals
Fifteen seasons and zero playoff wins. No, Marvin Lewis isn’t a bad coach. But it’s worth wondering how he’s still employed by the Bengals given that he’s 0-7 in the postseason.
Cincinnati has had losing seasons in each of the past two years. Losing several great coordinators — such as Mike Zimmer, Jay Gruden, and Hue Jackson, ironically — has hurt the Bengals and Lewis. However, the franchise is still regressing while division rival Pittsburgh is thriving.
Before the two losing seasons, Lewis led the Bengals to five straight playoff berths and two division titles. It was an impressive run, but not winning a single playoff game certainly hurts Lewis’ resume. If Cincinnati doesn’t make the playoffs in 2018, it’s hard to imagine Lewis returning for a 17th season.
- John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
It may be strange to consider, but John Harbaugh might be on the hot seat. Would anyone guarantee that Harbaugh will be the coach to start the 2019 season? What about the 2020 season?
Harbaugh led the Ravens to a Super Bowl win in 2012. However, in the last five years, Baltimore has only made the postseason once. General manager Ozzie Newsome is stepping down after this season. Joe Flacco is likely playing his last season for the franchise this year before Lamar Jackson takes over in 2019.
Lamar Jackson has more job security in Baltimore than Joe Flacco or John Harbaugh.
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) April 30, 2018
The Ravens could look like a totally different franchise next year. New GM, new coach, new quarterback. Harbaugh returning is more likely than Flacco for next season, and the coach could earn himself another year or two by leading the franchise to the playoffs again.
If Baltimore is sitting at home again in January, Harbaugh could be looking for another job despite boasting a 94-66 record overall and a 10-5 postseason record.
- Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Harbaugh actually has a better postseason record than Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh’s playoff shortcomings in recent years haven’t gone unnoticed, though Tomlin has more job security right now than Harbaugh.
Tomlin led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory over the Arizona Cardinals in his second season back in 2008. Pittsburgh lost in the Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers two years later. Since then, Tomlin’s teams have suffered some brutal and occasionally embarrassing losses in the playoffs.
The loss to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in 2011 was one of the worst losses of Tomlin’s career. New England routed Pittsburgh in the 2016 AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars hung 45 points on the Steelers in last year’s AFC Division Game in Pittsburgh.
Despite the lack of playoff success in recent years, Tomlin has still done a tremendous job with the Steelers. He is 116-60 overall and 8-7 in the postseason. Sure, they’ve missed some opportunities to make another Super Bowl run in recent years. They probably would’ve been to more Super Bowls if not for the Patriots.
Pittsburgh should control the AFC North again in 2018. Ben Roethlisberger is aging, but the nucleus is still intact, and Tomlin will have another chance to make a Super Bowl run this year.
