The unthinkable has come to pass. After 19 seasons of coaching, Mike Tomlin informed the Pittsburgh Steelers today that he’s stepping away from coaching. This is coming off the heels of another blowout loss in the Wild Card round to the Houston Texans last night. This offseason was already looking uncertain and nerve-racking for the Steelers. Now with this news, Pittsburgh enters an era of complete unknown. Pittsburgh will be on the market to search for its fourth head coach since 1969.
The Warning Signs of Tomlin’s Departure
Mike Tomlin’s decision to step away was foreshadowed by various reporters a couple of days prior. Some were saying Tomlin was interested in television. Most people initially dismissed those reports as mere speculation, but now they seem to have gained real weight. This season was also the most tenuous for Tomlin in terms of his support from the Steelers fandom. Pittsburgh’s fanbase was already growing tired of Tomlin, primarily due to the lack of playoff success he had since 2016.
These rumblings reached a breaking point in week 13 against Buffalo this season. Multiple “Fire Tomlin” chants echoed in Acrisure Stadium. Six weeks later, those same chants returned after Pittsburgh’s humiliating loss to the Texans. Even with all of the demands from the fans, the Steelers were never going to outright fire Mike Tomlin. As an organization that prides itself on stability, combined with the level of respect Tomlin has accumulated, the only way Tomlin was ever going to leave Pittsburgh was of his own volition.
Mike Tomlin’s Legacy
Mike Tomlin’s legacy in Pittsburgh will be complicated. On one hand, it’s impossible to deny the success he had. He never had a losing season, helped get the Steelers to two Super Bowls in three years, won Super Bowl 43, created a culture of stability, and an expectation of winning. On the other hand, Tomlin had egregious flaws as a coach that only grew more apparent over the years. He was one of the worst coaches in the league at challenges. His clock management was often questionable. In recent years, he was hyper-conservative, with multiple instances of punting in the 4th quarter down by two possessions.
There’s a strong argument to be made that he underachieved during the Killer B’s era of the Steelers from 2014-2018. His coaching hires had also been lackluster. All that being said, there’s also an argument to be made that in recent years, it was Tomlin dragging the Steelers to the playoffs, not the other way around. The Steelers have not had a franchise quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger exited his prime, and despite the revolving door of QBs over the last three seasons, Tomlin still led Pittsburgh to ten wins and the playoffs every time. There are a handful of coaches in the history of the sport who could’ve won games consistently with guys like Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges, and Kenny Pickett under center.
What Lies Ahead
Multiple things can be true at once in the case of Mike Tomlin. He had the highest floor of any NFL coach in his era, and maybe ever. He also had debilitating flaws in his game management that held Pittsburgh back. Every year, you could pencil in the Steelers for at least a .500 record, but more often than not, especially in recent times, they’d be stuck in NFL purgatory. Not good enough to be a true contender, but not bad enough to get a high draft pick.
Perhaps it’s best for both parties that Tomlin departs now. The Steelers can start fresh with a new voice in the building and hopefully get away from their outdated philosophies in roster construction. And Tomlin can step away from the pressures of coaching for a bit, and whenever he decides to return, reestablish himself as a coach for another organization. Nothing lasts forever, even if it felt destined for Mike Tomlin to be the Pittsburgh Steelers coach forever.