One year ago, Mike Tomlin‘s future was a talking point. The Steelers had just lost in the wild-card round to the Bills, marking another one-and-done postseason for Pittsburgh. 
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The NFL’s longest-tenured head coach made he clear he intended to carry on in his current post, however, and in June his latest extension was in place. Tomlin is under contract through 2027 as a result, and owner Art Rooney II‘s most recent commitment appeared to put to rest doubts about a potential coaching change. In the wake of Tomlin’s postseason drought continuing for another year, though, questions have once again been raised about Pittsburgh making a move on the sidelines. To little surprise, that will likely not be the case.
The Steelers are expected to keep Tomlin in the fold, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Pittsburgh has been led by the 52-year-old since 2007, and in that time the team has never posted a record under .500. Tomlin won a Super Bowl in his second year at the helm and helped lead the Steelers back to the championship game in 2010. Things have taken a notable downturn over the past several years, however. Pittsburgh’s most recent playoff win came in 2016.
Rooney has remained consistent in his praise about Tomlin, whose tenure has produced 11 seasons with double-digit wins. The 2024 campaign appeared to offer considerable promise early on, with quarterback Justin Fields guiding the team to a 4-2 record before Russell Wilson returned to full health. Tomlin inserted the latter into the lineup, a move which was not unanimously backed by his staff. Wilson enjoyed several productive games at first, but toward the end of the campaign Pittsburgh’s offense struggled to score with or without top wideout George Pickens in the lineup. As Dulac notes, the Steelers’ five-game losing streak to close out the campaign included no more than 17 points being scored each time; the team had not managed that feat since 1969.
Dulac writes that changes of some kind being made along the staff could be forthcoming, but Tomlin’s influence on Pittsburgh’s defense in particular means continuity on that side of the ball will be notable provided he is retained. On offense, first-year coordinator Arthur Smith has drawn head coaching interest. He may be on the move shortly as a result, but in Tomlin’s case a 19th season at the helm is on tap.
There are few coaching staffs that take Rudolph, Pickett and co to the playoffs last year. Look how Russ did on the broncos and how they fared. 11-19 when he started. Broncos get a qb and they’re what 10-7? Mason Rudolph couldn’t hold the starting job on the worst team. The steelers need a qb, which is difficult to do. Steelers fans around 30 and younger have never had to look for a qb until now and don’t know what that’s like. Tomlin has his flaws, but this team just lacks talent imo. I just don’t see what getting rid of Tomlin does, other than create a full new headache of finding a coach. I don’t think it’s normal to have 3 coaches in 60 years or whatever it’s been, so it’s not like you just hire Ben Johnson and he’s the guy for the next 20 years. There’s a culture that the Rooneys have built that keeps this team from being brutal. I don’t want to end up like the colts after manning, the pats after Brady, etc. tough to get a qb drafting 17 or later every year but that’s not a Tomlin flaw. He needs to update his schemes, which a new/better OC can do. If he’s not willing to hire someone like that, then maybe I’d be more open to moving on. I hear nothing but praise from the players and other teams fans. Steelers fans like to blame him for everything. I’m rambling, but the constant “fire Tomlin” just doesn’t make sense to me.
Tomlin is the guy who is constantly hiring the coordinators. He is the reason why they don’t have up to date schemes. He is the reason why the defense, who has all kinds of talent, continues to be a major letdown because he is the one calling the shots. Teryl Austin is going to be the fall guy because he is the DC. Yet…that’s his title, he isn’t the one calling the shots. That’s Tomlin. Tomlin refuses to hire an offensive coordinator who will outshine him. They have had their chances, yet they don’t do it. Tomlin wants the light on himself. That is my issue with Tomlin. Tomlin and Dan Campbell are the best coaches in the NFL when it comes to motivating players and getting the best out of them. The major difference is that Campbell understands that he needs a good OC and DC to get the absolute best out of his team. Losing gets old and your voice gets muddied in those losses. The Lions aren’t losing. Campbell’s voice isn’t getting muddied. Tomlin’s is. And his players are responding in a manner that’s synonymous with losing.
Rooney is putting continuity over competitiveness. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That’s our offense and our coaching. You’ll beat the bad teams and get beaten by the good ones. The Steelers won’t win another Super Bowl with Tomlin as head coach.
Soooo would you rather be the Jets?
Head coaches that are non competitive don’t stay employed for 18 years. Tomlin has a better win percentage than his contemporaries John Harbaugh, Sean Payton and Mike McCarthy.
Tomlin + Wilson = Mediocre.
The Steelers and Packers both lost in the first Playoff round and looked bad doing it. My chuckle meter is on overload. Yuk Yuk
They actually get a QB this team could be dangerous.
Realistic: Steelers trade for Derek Carr or Geno Smith. I think Saints are ready to move on from Carr, give Spencer Rattler a shot next season. Seahawks could move on from Geno and give Sam Howell a shot.
Dark horse candidate: Kirk Cousins.
lol Tomlin would never want Carr. Steelers either keep Russ for another year or try to get a polished vet like Darnold or Rodgers.
Rodgers? Lmao. Did you not watch the circus in NY the last two years?
You follow up saying Steelers don’t want Carr with Rodgers who will want his guys to come in.
Good one. Steelers would definitely rather have Carr over Rodgers
For a bridge year I’d take Rodgers over Carr any day. Rodgers wasn’t the main issue in New York. With elite WRs and O Line Carr still can’t win 6 games lmao
You would
Steelers wouldn’t
Rodgers wasn’t the main issue in NY. Unless you went blind deaf or dumb during 2023 and 2024 nobody in their right mind would bring in Rodgers after watching him force the jets to bring in his guys player wise and coaching wise and get people fired. Rodgers was absolutely the problem in NY considering they could win 9 games with Zach Wilson and Mike White types.
When has Carr ever had multiple elite WRs (plural) and elite oline? Lmao. wtf are you talking about
His oline in OAK/LV were average or below and his best receiver was his TE Waller then Adams. He never had multiple elite WRs at one time. When he got to NO he has an average oline and one elite WR in olave who misses games cause of concussions.
You should work on getting your facts straight. A lot of holes in your evaluation of Carr
We get it man you’re a Carr fanboy. Ask any casual fan in the league Carr isn’t a franchise guy. And he’s had more than capable WRs and a DECENT o line multiple times in his career. Herbert went to a playoff without Mike Williams and Keenan Allen and with Staley as coach. What’s Carrs excuse?
Yes blame the top 3 most dysnfunctional nfl franchise on Rodgers. It surely had nothing to do with dogsh#t GM, terrible coaching and lack of roster depth. Surely no lmao
A bridge year for what? This team needs a franchise QB. They don’t need a bridge QB because the QB of the future is not on this roster. They need a reset. The defense is getting old and still has elite talent but they lack offensive weapons and a QB to utilize those weapons. I do agree that this team is a QB away from being dangerous, but they are a QB, WR1, and a good offensive coordinator away from being an actual contender. They aren’t getting all of that this offseason, so a bridge QB is nothing more than what the Steelers have had for the last several years. And that includes Ben’s last couple of seasons.
Carr is soft. Dude threw the ball away on 4th down with the game on the line when with the Raiders.
Carr is super soft. Every year he’ll have that one amazing game and maybe win you 3 to 5 games but he’s not elite. At all
Carr and cousins are both downgrades from Wilson which is sad. Geno is barely an upgrade as well and you’d probably have to give him an expensive multi-year deal.
There is no way the Steelers would be stupid enough to fire Tomlin. 15-20 teams would be falling over themselves to hire him.
Tomlin is one of my favorite coaches. Steelers aren’t idiots.
The Steelers (and vicariously their fans and media) need to decide on one of two paths.
1) Continue with the same formula and hope to get lucky (either by getting hot and going on a run at the right time or finding some late round gems in the draft) to get over the top. Tomlin won’t let them lose so they can’t get the picks they need to get out of the mushy middle. They’d need luck.
2) Do a Browns style teardown. Trade Tomlin. Trade Pickens. Trade Watt. Trade Minkah. Trade anyone who can get you a fair draft pick in return. Accept years of losing in the hopes of building back better, which could still fail.
What is NOT on the table is this widely assumed third option where they hire a magic coach who turns this mediocre roster into a champion.
Up until now, I’d say option 1. But given the way Pickens has turned into a pumpkin and the D stars are aging, it might be time to consider option 2.
*One unlikely option 3…sign Sam Darnold if Minny lets him go and draft a couple WR’s and take another run with the current D.
I’m a Browns fan and I’ve been saying the same thing for a couple of years now. There’s no magical door number three that immediately elevates this team; at that point they’d need some massive luck to hit on later picks or they’d have to be a little more aggressive in free agency than they’ve tended to be. None of it matters unless they find a long term answer at QB, but it’s my opinion that their roster is objectively pretty bad and I think that Tomlin is a huge reason for why they’re competitive every year.
I don’t see anyone in Pittsburgh accepting a rebuild (we’re used to it in Cleveland so that’s not the case everywhere lol), so although the more frustrated Steelers fans will say that this is the definition of insanity, in my mind it’s really their only choice. Tearing it down might seem like a good plan long-term, but I can tell you from experience that it’s not a sure thing. You can tank for high picks if you really want to, but you still have to hit on the picks.
They have a coach who’s consistently proven that he can compete with pretty limited rosters. Until they change their MO and get aggressive to add a legitimate quarterback and build around him, we’ll probably be having this conversation every year.
They are fools gold. The success is shiny but misleading.
And they don’t draft far enough down to get a real shot at a QB.
Its the worst place to be. This is their ceiling until they figure it out.
Duh. Imagine looking at all the teams that are constantly in flux or despair and thinking it would be wise to join them.
Bring back Mike Munchak as offensive line coach is where we should start
I won’t deny that it’s impressive that the Steelers have won 20 games the last 2 years using 5 different QBs. That being said, Tomlin continues to lose to teams he should easily beat year after year. Examples of 2 win Arizona and NE in back to back weeks last season and a 3 win Cleveland this year.
The one I’d really like to question is Omar Khan. How in the world do you expect to have a competent offense when you roll into the regular season with Van Jefferson as your #2 WR? Their lack of a true plan to improve the position other than a prolonged Aiyuk saga was baffling. You can’t expect to use an Arthur Smith run based offense when you have a OL that lost Daniels, Fautanu and Herbig before the season started and no fear of a passing game because of the weak WR group.
But this one and done is complete garbage.
Those saying to tank to get better draft picks… take a look at where the Steelers grabbed Watt and Heyward. Even Porter Jr and Pickens. They actually do worse with higher draft picks IMO. If you can’t scout in this league you won’t win regardless where you draft
Jets or Jags should trade for him w/ their first round pick straight up.
I just want him to be mire aggressive.
He’ll always punt. No matter how the game is going.
You gotta steal a drive sometimes, and he just has mo appetite for it.