The Steelers' ideal Mike Tomlin replacement does not have any NFL coaching experience

Six straight playoff losses have resulted in the Pittsburgh Steelers being stuck in NFL purgatory. They are good enough to make the playoffs just about every year, but never advance. They are bad enough to merit moving on from their underperforming head coach, but never have the draft picks to ever truly rebuild. Mike Tomlin has become the next Marvin Lewis, while leading the NFL's Indiana Pacers.

No, the Steelers will not cut ties with their head coach, mostly because winning seasons are the cryptocurrency to Lombardi Trophies made out of precious metal. Besides, he has a no-trade clause. Moving on from Tomlin would be foolish for the Steelers in that aspect because he would get hired immediately if that were the case. Regardless, this is just not good enough any more. This is cooked.

While ripping the band-aid off is easier said than done, as soon as the Steelers move on from Tomlin, they need to have identified the right long-term successor for him. Bill Cowher was the right man to succeed Chuck Noll, just as Tomlin was to succeed Cowher. Tomlin getting hired to replace Cowher was a tad controversial because he was young and largely inexperienced. So might be his successor.

In a weird way, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is exactly the type of head coach for the job.

Marcus Freeman may be the man to replace Mike Tomlin sooner or later

Freeman is not yet 40. He may only be in his third season as a college football head coach. However, he has already done something his predecessor Brian Kelly did not think was possible. He has Notre Dame one win away from winning the College Football Playoff. Freeman may have had some clock management issues in his first few seasons on the job, but he checks every box any team may want.

He is bright, young, sharp and dashingly handsome. Freeman is a defensive-minded coach who played at Ohio State. He had a brief one-year NFL career with three different teams in the very late 2000s, but has transformed himself into one of the college game's rockstar coaches. He has made Notre Dame cool, which I never thought was possible. Even Notre Dame haters root for this guy, y'all!

When Freeman was being tied to NFL jobs in the latter part of this season, we all thought it might be him taking over the nearby Chicago Bears. Notre Dame is not that far away from Chicagoland, as much of their fanbases overlap. Freeman may not be an offensive play-caller, but he knows how to identify talent, either in the transfer portal, coming out of high school, or as a vibrant part of his staff.

Like Tomlin, Freeman is every bit the alpha male. He is cool, calm and collected on the sidelines, a man more mature than his years as a coach. Freeman is not some character we have created in a lab; he is an up-and-coming superstar head coach who is changing the game. Notre Dame should be at a disadvantage in the College Football Playoff, but Freeman has Notre at 3-0 in the playoff this season.

I understand that the Steelers do things differently, but so does Notre Dame. What I think would be a breath of fresh air to an increasingly stale franchise is a man who does not make excuses. Freeman is not going to tolerate the locker room running away from him. In fact, he would have everyone in the locker room eating out of the palm of his hand. Freeman is a man of the people, ideal for Pittsburgh.

It is only a pipe dream, but so is winning another Super Bowl with Tomlin as the Steelers head coach.