Speculation has been running rampant about the future of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. For a few weeks, there have been rumors swirling around that the team could move on from him after 17 seasons at the helm of the franchise.
That speculation only picked up when Tomlin left his presser after the team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday afternoon in Super Wild Card Weekend. He was asked about his future with the Steelers and instead of answering the question, walked off the podium.
That left people wondering whether or not Tomlin would actually be relieved of his duties as head coach. But, according to sources who spoke to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Tomlin isn’t planning on leaving.
On Tuesday, Tomlin told his players and staff that he plans to remain head coach of the Steelers for the 2024 season. He has one year remaining on his contract and has shown zero signs of wanting to walk away from the job. Tomlin, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “just wants to coach football,” and contract extension talks should intensify this offseason.
Without a losing record on his resume, it would certainly be surprising for the Steelers to want to move on from Tomlin. But, the team’s lack of success in the postseason, as they haven’t had a playoff win since the 2016 season, certainly plays a part in people thinking a parting of the ways could be on the horizon.
If the Steelers were going to move on from Tomlin, they would have a lot of things to smooth over when it came to their roster. Several players have spoken out in support of their head coach, including Cameron Heyward, the longest-tenured player on the team, and star edge rusher, T.J. Watt.
Tomlin has a 173-100 record in the regular season with the Steelers and an 8-10 record in the postseason. His record of 17 straight seasons to begin a head coaching career without a losing campaign is an NFL record and one that is hard to envision ever being broken.
Coaches rarely find that level of success right out of the gate and sticking with one job for that long is even rarer. There are only two other head coaches, Jim Harbaugh and Andy Reid, who have been with their current team for a double-digit number of seasons, with Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll being removed as head coaches of their respective teams.
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