The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a lot to deal with this season, and that was because of the major change at the helm this season, with coach Mike Tomlin heading out after 19 consecutive winning seasons. While they hired Mike McCarthy as the new HC, many thought about what Tomlin’s next move might be, but nobody expected him to reveal his obscure Minecraft world. That world is now under scrutiny, with stats that are bothering the Steelers.
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“Mike Tomlin Minecraft splits,” posted Warren Sharp on his X account. “Tomlin before Minecraft (7 seasons): 1 Super Bowl win, 2 Super Bowl trips, 5 playoff wins (5-3, 0.625) overall. Tomlin with Minecraft (12 seasons): 0 Super Bowl wins, 0 Super Bowl trips, 3 playoff wins (3-9, 0.250) overall.”
Tomlin has been obsessed with Minecraft since 2014, when he started playing it as a way to connect with his kids. But even with his kids growing older, the former HC continued exploring and ended up building a massive city in the game.
“I’m a big Minecrafter,” Tomlin told TODAY’s Craig Melvin in September, when fans found out about his creative genius in the game for the first time. “I started playing Minecraft, man, when my kids were young. I have a Minecraft city on creative, man, that I’ve been working on for like 12 years.”
At that time, Tomlin was also managing the Steelers, and although he never had a losing season with the franchise, it was expected of him to win more Super Bowls, especially after the Steelers won the NFL Championship in 2008.
Tomlin’s team competed in 12 playoff games since the 2014 season, with the Steelers beating the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2015 season, and the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2016 season. After their last win against the Chiefs (18-16), the Steelers went on to lose another Divisional Round in the 2017 season, weren’t able to get past the Wild Card Round in the last six playoff appearances, and got knocked out by the Houston Texans last season after a thrashing 6-30 loss.
Former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell also commented on Tomlin’s eccentric hobby, stating, “we were tryna win super bowls and coach T was on minecraft building cities 😭.”
The two-time first-team All-Pro played under Tomlin from 2013 to 2017, starting all 62 games for the Steelers.
Tomlin started playing Minecraft to spend his time with the family and get off the pressure of being an NFL coach.
“Over the course of time, they got just disinterested in the game. They go on to high school and so forth and off to college. Their participation became less and less over the years. My participation probably at times increased,” Tomlin said. “At different times over the course of a 12-month calendar, I would have different levels of fixation on this.”
Tomlin also admitted that, because he is not tech-savvy, his sons would save the files across different generations of PlayStation consoles, from PS3 to PS5. But now that he’s finally out of the sidelines, he is dedicating more time to his gaming hobby.
Mike Tomlin’s Minecraft world
Tomlin’s Minecraft adventures were something that he hid from the world until his elder son, Dino, urged him to reveal his creative genius. Tomlin announced his interest with a series called “My 12 Year Minecraft City Build.”
Tomlin’s first episode was titled “EP 1: ROOFTOPS, PENTHOUSES, AND URBAN LIVING,” where he showcased how intricate his world was, with a plethora of residences, stadiums, restaurants, and even a boutique hotel.
While Tomlin has now invested himself in showcasing his virtual world, the Steelers, on the other hand, are struggling with a 2-1 record for now, heading to Cleveland for Week 4 to play the Cleveland Browns.
While the Steelers’ offense looked awful after the first two weeks, with the Steelers ranking 30th in EPA per play and 30th in success rate, the team significantly improved in Week 3 with a30-27 win over the Bengals.
The Steelers are averaging 6.1 yards per play on first down for the season, being seventh best, but are still averaging only 5.9 yards per attempt when targeting the wide receivers, ranking last in the league.
It will be a tough season for the Steelers, as they are still getting used to McCarthy’s schemes.
But for Tomlin, he doesn’t need to worry about the Steelers’ struggles anymore and can just cool off after being an NBC analyst during season games.