Attention Steeler Nation, Mike Tomlin IS NOT Bill Cowher.

It was 1992 when the Pittsburgh Steelers changed head coaches for the first time in 24 years. Prior to that, Chuck Noll roamed the Steelers sidelines.

Chuck Noll was the face of the Steelers turnaround. He turned them around from one of the worst teams in the history of the NFL to the only team in history to win four Super Bowls in six years.

When Cowher took over the team, he was a rookie head coach. He had been a coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs for three years before joining the Steelers.

At his introductory press conference, Cowher stated that if he lasted three years, he could go to his 20th high school reunion as the head coach of the team he grew up rooting for.

Cowher lasted longer than three years, becoming one of the most successful coaches in the history of the NFL. Cowher's record was 149-90-1. Including playoffs, his record jumped to 161-99-1.

In five of Cowher's first six seasons, the Steelers won the AFC North, finishing second in 1993, but still qualifying for the playoffs.

It was not until Cowher's third year that he won his first playoff game, only to lose in the AFC Championship game to the San Diego Chargers 17-13.

The following year, the Steelers took the AFC, by advancing to play the hated Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX. Cowher again fell short of delivering the fifth Lombardi trophy to the Steel City, 27-17.

Cowher was beginning to be compared to the man that brought him into the coaching world, Marty Schottenheimer.  Schottenheimer, who is also respected as a great coach, also never won a Super Bowl.

Unlike Schottenheimer, Cowher was known as a fiery coach.  He was quick to yell at players, coaches, even a referee from time to time.

He would be so wound up, spit would fly from his lip regularly.

His intensity is why Steeler Nation loved him so much. We knew that as long as Cowher was on the sidelines, no one would be permitted to give anything but everything they had.

It was not until 2005, when Cowher would eventually shake the monkey off his back by defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.

At the conclusion of the game, Cowher handed the trophy to Dan Rooney, and said this is for you.

This was almost as touching as when the Steelers won their first Super Bowl in 1975. Andy Russell handed the game ball to Art Rooney Sr. and it was a moment that will be remembered forever.

Less than two years later, when Bill Cowher decided to call it a career, the Steelers coaching search started again.

Unlike most teams, they were not quick to sign the biggest names that were available, nor were they interested in following the route of hiring the "trendy" college coach.

There were two men on Bill Cowher's roster that most people thought had the best chance of getting the job: Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm.

Still, the Rooney family was not going to be quick to rush to a decision. While they interviewed their candidates, Ken Whisenhunt decided he couldn't wait for the Steelers to make a decision, and signed on to be the Arizona Cardinals' head coach.

Everyone thought Russ Grimm was a lock, and there were even rumors that Grimm agreed to a contract. But the Rooney family decided to go the same route they went with in Bill Cowher.

Mike Tomlin was signed away from the Minnesota Vikings, where he had been the defensive coordinator for only one year.

Tomlin led the Vikings to the top rushing defensive unit in his only year as a defensive coach. He began his career with Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay in 2001 as the secondary coach.

Unlike Cowher, Tomlin'[s playing days were not on the defensive side of the ball.  He played wide receiver and tight end at William and Mary.

In 1995, instead of trying his hand in the NFL as an undrafted free agent, Tomlin decided to learn to be a coach, and coached at the college level (1995, Virginia Military Institute, 1996, University of Memphis, 1997, Arkansas State University, and 1998-2001 at the University of Cincinnati).

Watching Tomlin on the Steelers sideline, he reminds a lot of people of a young Bill Cowher. He yells when he needs to, and is calm when he needs to be.

You can see him laughing with the refs before the game, but when the game starts, Tomlin is ready to do what few people before him have been able to.

Tomlin runs his team the way a general runs his troops. Dick LeBeau is the defensive coordinator, and calls the defensive plays. Bruce Arians is the offensive coordinator and does the same.

Tomlin does not micro-manage his coaches, but assists them to be the best they can be. He fires up the players and gets them to be the best they can.

In the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the last 40 years, there have been only three men that have had the honor to coach the greatest franchise in the NFL. All three have won Super Bowls.

All three of them have been very different in the way they coach. All three have had success.

Tomlin is the fastest of the three to achieve the success he has. In only his second year, he not only won his first playoff game, but he won his first Super Bowl (it took Noll four year and an immaculate reception to win his first, and Cowher three years to win his first).

If history is set to repeat itself, then Tomlin can one day be considered the best coach in the history of the Steelers. Although that may seem a stretch right now, in time it can be proved.

And Steeler Nation gets to go along for the ride.