It’s OK for things to end, to simply run their course. That’s all that happened with Mike Tomlin.
Nobody has to feel bad that he’s no longer the Pittsburgh Steelers coach after 19 seasons and a lot of great success. Ultimately, it was announced Tuesday as his decision to walk away — “after much thought and reflection,” he said in a statement — though surely it was to some degree a response to the mounting questions and suggestions that it may be time for a fresh start.
For both Tomlin and the Steelers.
His quarterback Aaron Rodgers shoved back on those sentiments in his postgame comments Monday night after the Steelers’ 30-6 playoff loss to the Houston Texans, calling it an “absolute joke” that Tomlin’s future and job status were even points of discussion.
Tomlin will be a head coach again in the NFL — very soon if he wants to jump right back into it at one of the other eight jobs open this cycle. Or he could take a well-paying TV job for a year, regroup and reset on a new chapter at that point.
He was the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, one year longer than John Harbaugh who was fired by Baltimore this month after 18 seasons there. Both coaches won Super Bowls, but that doesn’t mean eternal job security.
Nobody rides it out for three decades to retirement in the NFL — not since Chuck Noll retired after 23 years and four Super wins with the Steelers in 1991 and a few years later Don Shula stepped down after 26 seasons and two Super Bowl wins with the Dolphins (though even then it was at least speculated that there was pressure on Shula to do so by new ownership).
Tom Landry was flat-out fired in Dallas after 29 years and two Super Bowl championships. Bill Belichick and the Patriots mutually agreed to part ways after 24 years and six Super Bowl wins. Andy Reid was arguably the best Eagles coach in franchise history (just missing the Super Bowl title) and was let go, only to go on to an even better second chapter with the Chiefs.
It’s not a forever job. It doesn’t need to be.
Tomlin’s run of 19 straight seasons without a losing record may never be matched. That also doesn’t mean going 9-8 or 10-7 with a first-round playoff exit every year is enough for any coach to sustain into perpetuity.
Tomlin matched another NFL record Monday night with his seventh straight playoff loss, tying former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis for the longest such streak in league history. Tomlin’s nine straight seasons without a playoff win are the third-most behind Lewis’ 16 and Jim Mora’s 11.
That’s not to say he shoulders the cause for that mediocrity. The Steelers have let their offense wilt since QB Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. They’ve been unable to draft a successor as franchise quarterback and short-term stopgaps like Rodgers have had varying degrees of success. But, the unit has simply lacked star power at the skill positions overall. It would be hard for any coach to win big in the NFL without top-half-of-the-league offensive personnel.
That’s the overarching point here. It’s not about blame — either way. Tomlin’s tenure in Pittsburgh just ran its course.
The irony is that while so many NFL franchises struggle — sometimes endlessly — to find any stability (like the Raiders, Browns, etc.), stability isn’t actually celebrated without Super Bowls or the very real potential of Super Bowls.
That’s the reality and always will be.
Tomlin won the Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2008, his second season, and got back there two years later while losing to the Packers. Pittsburgh made one more AFC Championship game in the last decade and a half (after the 2016 season). And nobody who has watched the league thought this Steelers team had the upside of making a sustained postseason run as currently constructed.
So it’s time for a reset.
Earlier this week, we ranked the open jobs in terms of more desirable situations for prospective head coaches — we’ll slide Pittsburgh in at second behind the Ravens and ahead of the Giants. The Steelers should be able to make an inspired hire.
As for coaches available on the open market, Tomlin ranks near the top as well. He’d be a fun fit in a lot of places.
This can be a win-win for both sides depending on how it shakes out, and Tomlin will always have his place as a Steelers legend.
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