Steelers’ Art Rooney II Addresses Situation Post-Tomlin

Despite his desire to run it back with Tomlin in 2026, Rooney asserted that he made no attempts to talk Tomlin out of his decision. “I did not,” Rooney said in response to the question, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post. “He was pretty clear about what his intentions were…We had a great conversation, and I understand where he was.”

Mike DeFabo of The Athletic added on that part of the reason Rooney declined to push back on Tomlin’s decision was because the owner framed it to the media as a “family-driven” exit. It had already been reported about the near future, but DeFabo’s wording stated that “Tomlin does not plan on coaching again anytime soon.”

Moving forward, Rooney and general manager Omar Khan will reportedly be leading the search for Tomlin’s replacement, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. The pair ruled out a number of candidates fairly quickly as Rooney told the media that he didn’t “expect anyone on the current staff” to be a candidate to step into the open head coaching role, per DeFabo. Realistically, this would only apply to offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, and we can probably just narrow it down to Smith since he’s been rumored as a candidate in New York, had an interview requested with the Cardinals, and interviewed with the Titans.

Another aspect of the future affected by Tomlin’s exit, in the eyes of Rooney, is the team’s quarterback position. After Aaron Rodgers led the team to the playoffs in his first year with the team, there was some speculation that the 42-year-old passer would be running back as Pittsburgh’s quarterback for the 2026 season. The other option the veteran is reportedly considering is one in which he hangs up his cleats for good. As Rooney puts it (via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated), “Aaron came here to play for Mike, so I think it’ll most likely affect his decision.”

Even if his starting quarterback departs along with his head coach, though, it doesn’t appear as if Rooney is expecting to blow things up further. He looks to carry on Tomlin’s moniker of “the standard is the standard,” expecting the next head coach and quarterback to pick up where Tomlin and Rodgers left off. When asked if the team could enter a “rebuild” phase, he pushed back on that notion, saying he didn’t “like that word” and that he couldn’t understand why anyone would “waste a year of your life not trying to contend,” per Pryor.

Instead, Rooney and Khan will hit the ground running to try and find Tomlin’s replacement while righting the ship in direction that hopefully leads to the franchise’s first playoff win in 10 years.