As an almost 22-year-old young adult, few people have been around my entire life. Luckily, I have both my parents and younger brother around, and some extended family, too. I have friends I’ve known for so long they might as well have been there at my birth. Outside of them, though, the list is short.
Before I was even 3 years old, Mike Tomlin was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. With recent news on Tuesday afternoon, the list got a little shorter.
There’s been significant buzz about the Steelers firing Tomlin for a while now. When the Steelers ended the 2024-25 season by losing five of their final seven games, his seat was hot. When the Steelers lost another road, divisional, Thursday Night Football game to the Cincinnati Bengals, where Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase caught 16 of 23 targets for 161 yards and a touchdown, his seat was even hotter.
And after the worst home loss in Steelers’ post-season history, a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans on Monday night, the seat was the hottest. It was Tomlin and the Steelers’ seventh straight playoff loss in the Wild Card round.
The morning-after discussion was cut short. Questions such as, “Is it time for the Steelers to move on?” and “Will the Steelers ever win another Super Bowl?” — which look great on the bottom third of a TV screen — had to come down. Tomlin made the decision himself.
At 2:05 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2026, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, “After a historic 19-season run in Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin just informed his team that he is stepping down as the Steelers head coach.”
Even for Steelers fans who’ve lived long enough to see the successes of Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher — the only other Steelers head coaches in the Super Bowl era — Tomlin’s departure is bittersweet. In the 19 years with Tomlin at the helm, the Steelers’ win percentage of .628 is the third-best in the league, behind only the Patriots and Packers. In the last decade, since the Steelers recorded their last playoff win, the Steelers’ win percentage of .618 is fourth-best in the league, behind the Chiefs, Bills and Ravens.
“But what about the postseason?” It’s a fair retort. Among the seven teams with 20 or more postseason games played during Tomlin’s tenure, the Steelers .400 win percentage is the worst. Tomlin’s lack of playoff success in the last decade is unprecedented because, typically, coaches in the NFL don’t get such a long leash. Had Tomlin not stepped down, it’s unknown how long his leash would have been, even with the blowout loss to the Texans.
Of course, the vacancy makes the offseason exciting for Steelers fans. With the upcoming NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, a head coach opening and likely no starting quarterback, the Steelers are full of opportunity and are surrounded by excitement.
But, I’m scared of my biggest fear coming to life. I’ve seen the torment of other teams’ fan bases. They can’t wait for the regular season to be over as soon as it starts. Reading and creating Mock Drafts are the highlights of their year because they get to imagine what their favorite NFL team could look like. They don’t get to experience the excitement of a playoff game because their team never makes it. They don’t get to sit on their couch for nine or more Sundays a year and go to bed happy because their team won.
It’s almost guaranteed that Tomlin’s successor will win fewer games by both volume and win percentage. The Steelers’ win over the Ravens to end the 2025-26 regular season was Tomlin’s 200th, tying Noll for 9th most in NFL history. Under Tomlin’s leadership, the Steelers never had a losing season. In Tomlin’s 309 regular-season games, the Steelers played only one where they were mathematically out of playoff contention.
Is there a chance the Steelers’ history of stability helps Tomlin’s successor hit the ground running? Of course there is. Since 1972, the Steelers have never had more than two consecutive losing seasons. History says the next head coach of the Steelers won’t lose many games. But in today’s NFL, where new Super Bowl contenders appear one year and are gone the next, nothing is guaranteed.
Sorry to pick on the Browns, but could I see the Steelers becoming the Browns? Unfortunately, yes. The Browns were everybody’s dark horse to make a run in the 2023 playoffs after going 11-6, but were blown out by the Texans in the Wild Card round. Why did an 11-6 record trick NFL fans? Because it was only the third time the Browns had won double-digit games in a season this century. In the following two seasons, the Browns have won eight games combined.
This season, the Browns were eliminated from playoff contention in week 14 with a 3-10 record. While they did win two more games after that, including one against the Steelers, Browns fans likely got little enjoyment from actually watching football. Their team rarely wins. Instead, scouting college prospects, discussing potential moves at the quarterback position and finding a new head coach every few years are the highlights. Do Steelers fans really want to risk experiencing that?
The Steelers are entering the great beyond. No one, especially not Steelers fans, knows what’s out in those waters.
I haven’t believed in the Steelers to win a Super Bowl since 2016. Of course, I empathize with Steelers fans who’ve wanted the team to win zero games and get the first overall draft pick, or who’ve wanted every good player traded away for draft picks in the hope of building the Death Star down the road.
But I’m not ashamed to say it. I enjoy those nine or more Sunday afternoons I get to watch the Steelers dominate games against better teams and go out to lunch against worse ones. I enjoy watching the Steelers make miracles against the Ravens twice a year, even if it’s more stressful than Fear Factor. I like laughing at other teams who will commit more turnovers than they have all season, just because they’re surrounded by twirling towels.
Tomlin and his Steelers have taught me to find joy in the moment rather than immediately thinking about the greater purpose of it all — how it all fits together.
It’s a bittersweet end to Mike Tomlin’s tenure. The 2026-27 NFL season is no doubt the start of a new era for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those fans who’ve clamored for the Steelers to lose games will likely get their wish, and they can self-assess if causing such a racket was worth it. The new head coach will get the opportunity to build their own legacy and, hopefully, teach Pittsburgh a new lesson.
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