The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a team that has relied on stability to achieve success. Each of the franchise’s last three head coaches before Mike McCarthy’s arrival led Pittsburgh to at least one Super Bowl title. Charlie Batch is among the few individuals who played under the previous two head coaches, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. While both had successful tenures in Pittsburgh and cemented their reputation as legendary coaches in the league, in Batch’s estimation, both his former coaches hadn’t done enough to break into the Top 10 HC’s list of all-time.

“When you look at the list, no,” Batch said when asked about Tomlin and Cowher being in top 10 head coaches list. “And the reason why I say so is because in Pittsburgh, you evaluate it based off the Super Bowls that you win here. I know Mike Tomlin has two. One of those was an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But yet, it didn’t happen as a head coach. So, it’s just a matter of what they’re evaluating on.”

Batch’s comments surfaced after CBS Sports released the list of the top 10 head coaches of all time in the NFL. While the Pittsburgh great Chuck Noll found his name at No. 7, the list didn’t include either Cowher or Tomlin, and Batch knows exactly why.

There’s no denying that the Steelers have historically judged coaches by championships. Since 1969, Pittsburgh has had only three full-time head coaches. Noll’s tenure from 1969 to 1991 featured the dynasty led by Terry Bradshaw that won four Super Bowls before Cowher took over in 1992.

For context, Noll is the only coach to go to four Super Bowls and win every single time. All his wins came in a six-year period when the Steel Curtain defense was at its peak. His regular-season record stood at 193-148-1 over 23 years, and he was the man responsible for making the Steelers a powerhouse in the NFL, when teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins were leading the way.

In his 15-year tenure as the Steelers HC, Cowher had only four losing seasons. He led the team to two Super Bowls and ultimately won his first one in 2006. After helping the team win the Lombardi, Cowher left the franchise. While the HC was on the team, Charlie Batch was backing up Ben Roethlisberger. By the end of his tenure, Cowher was 149-90-1 in the regular season and 12-9 in postseason before Mike Tomlin took over.

Tomlin’s strongest case over Cowher is his unprecedented consistency. We’re talking about 19 consecutive non-losing seasons, the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl at 36 years old, before Sean McVay surpassed that record, and one of the winningest head coaches in NFL history. Along the way, Tomlin also led the Steelers to two Super Bowl appearances, winning Super Bowl XLVIII with Big Ben, where Batch once again served as a backup QB.

At the same time, however, it’s the playoff criticism that has been significant in Tomlin’s tenure. In the regular season, Tomlin is 193-114-2, yes. But in the playoffs, he has an 8-12 record, with no playoff wins in almost a decade before he stepped down.

So, while there’s no denying that Tomlin has a Hall of Fame-calibre track record, Charlie Batch thinks that with only one Super Bowl, Mike Tomlin, as well as Bill Cowher, don’t qualify as top 10 head coaches in the league. And the former Steelers quarterback further explained it using Don Shula as an example.

Charlie Batch explains the importance of winning championships

CBS Sports ranked the top 10 head coaches of all time in the NFL recently. The list features Bill Belichick at No. 1, followed by Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, Paul Brown, Don Shula, George Halas, Chuck Noll, Andy Reid, Joe Gibbs, and Tom Landry. Now, considering the list doesn’t feature Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin, Charlie Batch further explained how winning championships carries weight in an NFL head coach’s career.

“When you look at Don Shula, you would think he should be higher because he is like first in all-time wins,” Batch added. “Bill Belichick is close behind. But yet, you have him at five. So, the argument kind of goes out the door if you’re talking about true championships.”

Shula spent over three decades as a head coach in the NFL while leading multiple teams, including the Miami Dolphins. The NFL legend is the winningest head coach in the NFL with 328 regular-season and 19 postseason wins. Still, CBS ranked him at No. 5 while Bill Belichick claimed the top spot. According to Batch, Super Bowl championships played a key role here.

Belichick is at No. 2 in all-time career wins in the NFL. At the same time, however, he has won eight Super Bowl rings, including six as a head coach of the New England Patriots. This is exactly why Batch believes that Cowher and Tomlin failed to secure a spot in the top 10 list of the NFL head coaches.