James Harrison's string of five straight Pro Bowl seasons started when Mike Tomlin took over as the Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach in 2007. The tenacious linebacker won his second Super Bowl ring and only NFL Defensive Player of the Year award under Tomlin.
But Harrison doesn't believe Tomlin belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame afterhe voluntarily ended his 19-season run leading the Steelers. Harrison said soon Friday's episode of his show "Deebo & Joe,"which he co-hosts with former Steelers and Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden.
Haden, a three-time Pro Bowler who played for Tomlin from 2017 to '21, posed the question, "Is Coach T a Hall of Fame coach, in your opinion?"
Harrison responded with a two-letter answer: "No."
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Taken aback, Haden said, "OK. So now, yeah, that's actually crazy."
That's when Harrison dove into his explanation:
"He hasn't made disciples," Harrison said. "You're telling me you're a Hall of Fame coach, but no one has followed you? ... He's the only coach that has coached this long and does not have a tree, bro."
Deebo did not hold back. Nineteen years or not, he says Mike Tomlin is not a Hall of Fame coach and points straight at the postseason record and the empty coaching tree.@jharrison9292@joehaden23#DeeboAndJoepic.twitter.com/kUXagXFhz1
— Deebo & Joe (@deeboandjoe)January 16, 2026
Harrison was critical of the fact that during Tomlin's nearly two-decade tenure in Pittsburgh, he didn't have a single assistant transition directly from his staff to a head-coaching position in the league.
"I'm not going to not give him the Hall of Fame nod because he's bad at hiring offensive coordinators," said Haden, who was in clear disagreement with Harrison on the subject.
Harrison didn't back down. In fact, he even speculated that Tomlin steered away from bringing in top-notch coordinators in order to keep the focus on himself.
"Is it enough spotlight to go around?" Harrison said.
"You got to realize, a lot of coaches, when they get this head coach thing, it's a lot of ego that go with that. ... Now, a great coach, dude, the measurement of greatness, it's not based on personal experiences and relationship you had with them. It is purely on what you did as a coach. Did you get championships?"
Haden countered with, "What about wins and losses?"
Tomlin, after all, piled up 193 regular-season wins, tied with Chuck Noll for the most recorded by a head coach in Steelers history. He was, however, 8-12 in the playoffs and lost his last seven postseason games.
That's where Harrison headed with his argument.
"When you look at the greats, the measurement of greatness for all-time greats, like everybody is saying right now, nobody has a negative postseason record," Harrison said.
Haden maintained that Tomlin is a Hall of Fame coach because he delivered a Super Bowl to the Steel City and consistently put Pittsburgh in position to contend. The Steelers won eight AFC North titles and didn't have a losing season with Tomlin in charge.
This isn't the first time Harrison has discounted Tomlin's success
Just last month,Harrison was at it again. He played for Tomlin from 2007 to '12 but apparently wasn't all too impressed.
"As much as I hate to say this, I have never been a person that thought Coach Tomlin was a great coach,"Harrison said during a Dec. 1 episode of his show, following the Steelers' Week 13 defeat to the Buffalo Billsthat came with "Fire Tomlin" chants.
Harrison continued at the time: "I thought he was a good coach. ... A good coach gets you to play to your potential. And right now, the players we have on that team I have seen play, I know they can do it. I have seen them do it.
"And they're not playing up to their potential. And a great coach gets you to play beyond your potential."
The Steelers bounced back from that loss to the Bills and won the AFC North before their latest one-and-done playoff appearance and Tomlin's subsequent resignation.
