The Steelers’ Week 13 loss sparked a new round of debates about head coach Mike Tomlin and his job security. No changes on the sidelines are imminent, but an important decision on his future will be coming after the season. 
Tomlin is under contract through 2026, and the Steelers have a team option for the following year. A firing will not take place before the end of the current campaign, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports to no surprise. He adds, however, a decision on the option will need to be made before March 1.
For several years now, questions have been raised about Tomlin’s future in Pittsburgh. The team has regularly worked out two-year extensions in alternating offseasons and by doing so avoided a lame-duck situation. That would of course be the case entering 2026 if the Steelers were to decline the option, though. Barring a long-term commitment, this situation is set to once again be a major talking point during the head coach hiring cycle.
This past June, it became clear Tomlin was not on the hot seat despite a drought for playoff success dating back to 2016. Shortly thereafter, a report confirmed this is being handled as a year-to-year situation, with Tomlin’s hypothetical departure being seen as something which will only take place when he chooses to leave. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms that is still the case, and sources have told him that if Tomlin does not coach the Steelers in 2026, it will be because he made that decision. The 53-year-old is the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL and one of the league’s best compensated staffers.
The Steelers have opted for stability along the sidelines throughout their history. Only three head coaches (Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Tomlin) have been in place since 1969. Tomlin is in his 19th season at the helm, moving him closer to Noll’s franchise record of 23 years. With the team sitting at 6-6, extending his streak of non-losing seasons is a distinct possibility.
Nevertheless, the Steelers face questions at the quarterback spot as they have since the waning stages of Ben Roethlisberger‘s career. A number of moves – via free agency, trade and the draft – have not yielded a long-term solution under center. That has not stopped Tomlin and the team from generally being successful on a consistent basis in the regular season, but the issue of sustained production on offense remains a sticking point. Matt Canada became a rare in-season OC firing in 2023, but his replacement (Arthur Smith) has guided the team to middling results in total offense before and after Aaron Rodgers‘ arrival.
Pittsburgh has invested heavily on defense in recent years, but in 2025 in particular things have not gone according to plan with respect to the unit. Tomlin’s influence on that side of the ball and his loyalty to defensive coordinator Teryl Austin have increasingly become used as arguments against keeping him in the fold. On the other hand, owner Art Rooney II has not wavered in his support for Tomlin.
With that in mind, Rooney’s stance on the matter will be imperative when a decision on Tomlin’s future will be made. Winning the AFC North would certainly help the latter’s cause, although another one-and-done postseason would add further to the case against keeping him. Declining Tomlin’s option but retaining him for 2026 would make for an interesting situation to say the least.
A trade was raised as a possibility last offseason when the Bears showed interest in speaking with Tomlin. The Steelers denied Chicago’s request for a meeting, but in the event Pittsburgh were to decline the 2027 option Tomlin could look into the opportunity to move on. For now, such a scenario is strictly hypothetical, and Rapoport acknowledges that a 2026 trade appears unlikely.
After the season, this situation will be one worth monitoring closely. If Tomlin chooses to step down, Rapoport suggests his most likely path would be the one Sean Payton forged several years ago: take a year off, perhaps do some media work, and then return to the sidelines in 2027. In that scenario, the Steelers would receive trade compensation, just as the Saints did when the Broncos hired Payton.
Rory Parks contribued to this post.
Continues to amaze me
That since 1969
Steelers have had a total of just 3 head coaches
It’s something I had long been proud of as a Steeler fan. It used to be reflective of ownership that knew enough to hire the right people and let them do their jobs. But not so much now.
What are you talking about? 3 head coaches in the last 55 years and all of them have won at least 1 SB Best ownership in football
True. But sometimes change is a good thing.
@rondon. It wont be a good thing for 3-4 years, but its pretty much the samething that happened to cowher. They probably need to do a complete teardown, so they can start the next dynasty. The ravens are probably in the same situation with harbaugh.
Art Rooney II is definitely not his father, or his grandfather. Unfortunately. Because the first 2 Steeler owners not only had a good sense of the pulse of his team, but also a sense of the pulse of the town. This Art thinks that the Steelers are in the brink of playoff success and that the fans are just a little frustrated. And that’s why Tomlin won’t leave until he chooses to.
Agreed. This Rooney seems to have some level in comfort in mediocrity and enjoys having the idea of coaching permanence associated with the family name.
I was a Tomlin supporter early on. Maybe it was his loquaciousness that got me. But to me, he’s the most overrated coach in modern history. He’s done little here with players he didn’t inherit from Cowher and Colbert and over the past two seasons at least, sure does not look like the great motivator of men that we hear he is, as his team quit down the stretch last year and sure appeared to wave the white flag against the Bills
We keep hearing he’ll get a job the moment he’s done here. Good. Who cares? Average coach. Poor strategist and game coach. And above all, a hard head who is resistant to new ideas and prefers “yes men” around him
I’m hoping he’ll decide to move on because this Rooney is part of the problem.
I think if this was the Roman Coliseum Everyone would have their thumbs down right about now.
Well, the reason there is no NFL team in Rome is because they would want Russell Crowe as the head coach 🙂
The Steelers could finish 8-9 and make the playoffs and let him go during his only losing season
The true definition of insanity… continue to do the same thing over & over expecting different results. It’s time to make a change.
To be fair… it’s impossible to win without a top tier QB. They haven’t figured that out for him, not even close, since Big Ben hung them up.
You can win w/o a top QB; Baker, Sam D, Flacco, T Lawrence, Nix etc. But you have to have a quality roster about him. Pitt doesn’t.
To be fair he had Ben Roethlisberger for 15 frickin years and his only Superbowl was with cowhers assistants and team
I honestly dont think Bo Nix or Caleb are good at all, but both those teams have great coaches
Steelers should hire Klint Kubiak and draft
Cade Klubnik
Nix and Caleb are “not good at all”? They lead the league in 4th QTR comebacks this season. And if either one was starting for the Steelers, you’d be defending them to the bitter end.
Neither one is elite qb like Roethlisberger or Rodgers or Brady is what i mean
Caleb is butt. Nix is just a gamer
“…it’s impossible to win without a top tier QB.”
I personally think it’s more accurate to say “it’s impossible to win with a bottom-8 QB situation”. That’s basically what Pittsburgh has dealt with for the last 7 years or so
It amazes the whining from some Steelers fans. The “never had a losing record” thing is just one of those things that happened by chance. 3 diff times a Tomlin team has finished 8-8.
Tomlin won’t get fired. He could get told he will either be traded or step down but Art will give him that chance before he fires him. As much as Tomlin has had to hear about this crap this year, I don’t think he will want to come back for 2026 regardless. Maybe the Steelers can trade him. Then when the Steelers have 3 losing season before the decade is out, all you boys that’s been whining about Tomlin the last few years need to keep your pie hole shut.
That’s an utterly stupid take. Seriously.
Your belief is that as long as you have a winning record and least make the playoffs, you should shut up and be satisfied. That’s laughable.
All you have here is an annually mediocre team, just over .500. Stuck in the middle of the drafting order, doomed to watch as other teams get the blue chippers. Shackled by contracts of aging stars. Handcuffed by a GM and coach who’s remedy entails bringing in more overpriced, overrated aging players all to maintain the .500 record
And further plagued by a head coach who’s hellbent on not swaying from offensive and defensive philosophies he’s put into place even as they’re shown to be disastrous, week after week
There ARE good coaches in this league who understand that sometimes, the best idea is to burn it down and build it back up. Payton. Vrabel
Others. There are good young minds who understand modern football and present schemes to maximize their team’s play within it.
None of the above exists here. Instead, we have an overrated coach whose message has become stale.
I hope they do lose out. I hope they do part with Tomlin and get rid of most of this aging group and their contracts. I hope they do build through the draft. A couple losing seasons would be fine. Find your future stars with an innovative young coach.
Because it’s Groundhogs Day here every year. With a team known for quitting this time of year.
You’re too stupid to read a comment and then correctly reply.
And you, just a blithering moron and fanboy. Run along and get your Terrible Towel ready, Al
Try to write coherently next time. Maybe have the wife proofread your moronic takes and perhaps stick to what you know best; beer, fast food, fart jokes
Lmao
How many more excuses does coach T need? He was okay in the beginning and we made some good memories but enough’s enough. Time for a clean split
Tomlin is starting to look old and tired – especially for someone who is only 53.
I agree. And I think that a lot of that is from the last calendar year or so. He looks he’s aged 10 years and gained weight too.
Perhaps Belichick could hook Mike up with a young hottie to get that spring back into his step.
That’s hilarious 🤣
He’d ask if Jordan has any friends, but I think he already knows the answer to that question.
Agreed
Why’s he treated with kid gloves?
Hes a grown man and he failed to win a playoff game in 9 years
Fire him like Bill Belichek and move on
The most mediocre of blowhards have convinced the most dimwitted of ingrates that we only accept exceptionalism here.
“He was never a good coach.”
A fat guy who feeds his dead mom’s cats and can’t get women of the night to take his money (as well as another few guys who work for $7.25/hr) have convinced the denizens of the “City of Champions” that a guy who has never had a losing record in his entire NFL career was “never a good coach”.
The only way to believe that is if you are entitled dunce who believes the Lombardi belongs to you every single season, no matter what…which they do.
IF you understand that the NFL is 32 hungry dogs released into a pit of food every week, then you understand how hard it is to NEVER go hungry.
Once Belichick didn’t have an NFL caliber QB, he couldn’t win and had to go to college where he still couldn’t win while Tomlin wins with literally any bum. Andy Reid has an in his prime Patrick Mahomes while Tomlin has AARP Rodgers and both are 6-6.
The only time it could be argued that a Tomlin team has underperformed was when Ben, Brown and Bell were at their peak together, but…those are 3 of 10 dumbest people to ever play in the NFL and as talented as they are, that was to be expected.
They genuinely believe that firing a coach who gets 2 to 3 more wins than his roster warrants every year is the panacea. OK.
“But, but, he has his hands in the picking of the players!!!” Yeah. And so do 31 other teams. Most of whom pick higher every year because he keeps winning. The Steelers have had ONE top 10 (a #10, at that) pick in his two decade tenure.
And that, not him “never” being a “good coach” is the actual case for moving on from him.
He’s actually too good a coach with a roster running on fumes (where would this team be if they hadn’t nailed Watt and Heyward with #30 picks?) that should have bottomed out six years ago.
If yinzers were clear eyed and understood this and wanted to jettison a Hall of Fame coach so they could finally tear down and rebuild and endure a few 3-14 years to stock the roster with talent…that would be one thing.
Instead, these mushroom managed yinzgrates believe the HOF coach is the ONLY thing holding back this current roster from glory and that a new coach will have them in the AFC championship next year because…”we’re the PITTSBURGH STEELERS!!! (and that, not reality, is what matters).
Please. Do it.
I want to see how 9 wins a year looks to them after 9 wins in 3 years.
The usual defense with the usual insane bluster. It’s good to see that even the most ardent fans of this overrated coach on the national and local level have come around to the idea that it’s time for both sides to move on
This long, inane commentary is akin to being in a race of 100 runners, coming in 49th and being satisfied because you finished in the top half of finishers. And when someone advises you to change technique or work harder, the response comes down to, “What do you mean? I finish in the top half every time”
It’s really a stupid argument in a performance-driven profession. It salutes mediocrity while failing to note any accomplishments of merit besides “winning record” and throwing in the tired, “Hey, who can you bring in that can do any better?” claptrap
Uh, any number of guys. Look around the league and take note of teams doing well under younger coaches. Or of true coaches who have a clue. Yeah, they may not have initially had winning records, but look at them now
Guys like this writer are happy with being stuck in the middle, of being mediocre. With Tomlin, it’s all you can hope for. To read guys like 66, fans shouldn’t want anything more because the alternative might be worse.
It’s the logic of a child
Are you a Steelers fan or do you just like to type?
Guess you can’t be both, eh?
Explain this away
“Andy Reid has an in his prime Patrick Mahomes while Tomlin has AARP Rodgers and both are 6-6.”
I know he’s a coward who likes to reply and then block, like some yapping little purse dog hiding under the Tic Tacs and lipstick.
“You just LOVE mediocrity” is the retort of these morons.
They don’t understand cause and effect. Or that you need to correctly identify WHY you are mediocre.
They have ignored the lousy roster and the lack of a QB. They don’t understand that the other 31 teams get a say in the outcomes, too. (Everyone else in the NFL is an NPC to yinzers.)
And they have settled on the coach who always wins more than his roster should as the problem.
Cool.
Do it. Please.
Did PFR ever notice the “Fire Tomlin” chants inside Acrisure Stadium during the 2nd half of the Buffalo game?
189-113-2 (.625)
Steelers list of recent QB’s is laughable, trading Pickens before the season didn’t help win games
66…I agree with basically everything you have had to say so don’t take this as an attack. But I have to ask, do you not feel like anything needs changed?
I’ve said for a few years they have one of two paths to follow. The problem is yinzers think there is a magical third one that doesn’t exist.
(I have acknowledged for years that Tomlin keeps them stuck in the mushy middle, but because he’s too good a coach not a bum who has gotten lucky 19 years in a row.)
#1- Stick with Tomlin and hope to find a franchise QB somehow. Maybe they hit on a late first like Love (or even a high second like Hurts) and find their guy. I liked the idea (but not execution) of the Fields experiment. I suggested Daniel Jones as a better option than Rodgers (who I admit has played well but has no future).
#2- Full tear down. Trade everyone. Go 3-14 for a few years and finally rebuild the roster. The Hue Jackson Plan.
What they think will happen…
#3- Fire Tomlin and magically hire a magic coach who will magically take this dumpster fire roster and win playoff games and Super Bowls with it “because we/they are THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS!!!” which is beyond silly.
If they end up holding on today, and win the division, I see #1 happening. If they blow this lead today…I can’t imagine what the rest of the evening and this week is going to bring.
As for number 2, I don’t even think a full tear down is necessary. I only wish Tomlin would hire some competent coordinators. That’s hands down my biggest gripe about him. Whether the haters are right and he just hires “yes” men to keep a strangehold on the team, or he is just that bad at evaluating coaches…I don’t know. But Arthur Smith was not the right hire. Not even close. And the defense has no clue how to stay consistent year to year.
“Whether the haters are right and he just hires “yes” men to keep a strangehold on the team, or he is just that bad at evaluating coaches…I don’t know.”
OR the Rooneys are cheap (poor relative to other NFL owners) and save money on assistants after splurging on Tomlin.
Keeping Canada after it was beyond obvious that he needed to go was the worst thing he’s done, though, for sure. Slagged him hard for that.
I also kinda don’t want to hear about assistants from the fan base that gleefully ran future two time coach of the year and Super Bowl winner Bruce Arians out of town. They know nothing.
I was not one of the fans who gleefully ran Arians out of town. I was upset when he left.
With no sense of irony, the Steeler “fans” screaming the most about how the team accepts mediocrity also think Mason Rudolph should be the starter.
Never before has a fan base been so angry about their team beating an arch rival to take the division lead.
YOU RIGHT ON TRACK,BIGALCATHY