In January 2026, Mike Tomlin stepped down from his post with the Pittsburgh Steelers following the team's loss to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round of the 2025 NFL playoffs. Prior to the game, Tomlin had been the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL.
Tomlin's decision to walk away with two years remaining on his contract marked an end to a 19-year run in which the 53-year-old coach never had a losing season. Only Hall of Famer Tom Landry (21 seasons) had a longer streak in NFL history.
The NFL adopted its current division format, eight four-team divisions (four in the AFC and four in the NFC), in 2002, when the Texans joined the NFL and brought the league to 32 teams. Realigning the teams into North, South, East and West divisions in each conference created a more balanced structure geographically while keeping the league's classic rivalries intact. Since that realignment, the Steelers have had two head coaches: Bill Cowher and Tomlin.
While the Steelers have been a model of stability, teams like the Raiders have not.
Since 2002, the Oakland Raiders, formerly the Los Angeles Raiders, moved to the desert to become the Las Vegas Raiders. They also have hired 12 head coaches (excluding interim head coaches), the most of any NFL franchise during that span.
Most recently, the Raiders fired Pete Carroll after a yearlong stint as head coach. Though Las Vegas added Tom Brady as a minority owner in 2024, the team has struggled to secure a winning record and stabilize its staff.
Take a look at the NFL franchises with the highest turnover at head coach since 2002 below:
Las Vegas Raiders, 12 head coaches
Houston Texans, 6
Pittsburgh Steelers, 2
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