It appears Mike Tomlin‘s resignation as the Steelers’ head coach last week will lead to at least a one-year absence from the sidelines. It may even be a permanent retirement from coaching.
As a guest on Wake Up Barstool on Tuesday, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer revealed that “probably seven teams” have contacted him to inquire about Tomlin’s availability (via Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot). Tomlin isn’t interested, according to Glazer, who’s friends with the coach.
Asked if Tomlin could emerge as a candidate for the newly available job in Buffalo, Glazer replied: “That’s not happening. Mike T’s done.”
Based on Glazer’s comments, we may have seen the last of Tomlin as a head coach after 19 seasons. Now 53 years old, Tomlin took over in Pittsburgh as a first-time head coach in 2007 and went on to compile a 193-114-2 regular-season record with eight division titles, including an AFC North crown in 2025, 13 playoff berths, two AFC championships and a Super Bowl title.
The Steelers didn’t post a sub-.500 season under Tomlin, adding to his impressive list of accomplishments, but playoff success was elusive in the second half of his Steel City tenure. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2017, and they dropped their last six postseason contests under Tomlin. His Steelers stint ended with a 30-6 wild-card round blowout at the hands of the Texans.
Although his time in Pittsburgh featured plenty of early January disappointment over the past several years, it’s no surprise teams would have interest in giving the potential Hall of Famer a second chance as a head coach. That’s especially the case when considering the unusually high number of HC vacancies this winter.
The Bills became the 10th opening of the offseason when they fired Sean McDermott on Monday, though the number is down to six after the Falcons (Kevin Stefanski), Giants (John Harbaugh), Dolphins (Jeff Hafley) and Titans (Robert Saleh) made hires. The Giants began working toward an agreement with Harbaugh late Wednesday, but a member of their ownership reached out to Tomlin before then, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. Tomlin informed the Giants he doesn’t plan to coach in 2026, leading the team to pour all its efforts into reeling in Harbaugh. They officially reached a deal last Saturday.
Unlike Harbaugh, who was a free agent, the Giants would have had to work out a trade to bring in Tomlin. The Steelers still hold Tomlin’s contractual rights for another season, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. If Tomlin sits out 2026 and returns to coaching after that, he’d be free to sign anywhere, but it’s now fair to wonder if he’ll ever roam the sidelines again.
Pulling a Bill Cowher
A man gets to sleep a lot more and sleep in his own bed when he does TV. The pay won’t be too shabby either.
I saw an interview with Bill Cowher a while back; one of the things he said was, “There’s a lot less stress talking about a football team than there is coaching one.”
Tomlin is not the right guy for a rebuild
That’s why the steelers dumped him
He’s only good at taking over established teams .. and slowly ruining them
Tomlin never had a losing season in Pittsburgh. Can’t say that for any other coach currently in the NFL.
That’s such an overrated stat that it’s not even laughable anymore. I’ll say it again, I think Tomlin is a good man and generally a good coach, but he’s not NFL diety. National media fawned over him as they did Belichick until very recently. He had a lot of rope to build a team of his own once Cowher era super-players faded into the sunset and couldn’t do so. And he benefitted from an owner who was giggly with ideas like the longevity shtick, the consecutive non-losing season thing and the idea of always being competitive. Yeah, most Steelers fans are consumed with the thought that the franchise should always be in the hunt for a ring, but Tomlin’s stubborn streak in everything from the hiring of yes men as assistants to Neanderthal game strategies was always a stumbling block
Give him a team with stud players in place and maybe he’ll get to the mountain top. But to rebuild with his ideas, no sir
As a lifelong Steeler fan something that needs to be stated is how poorly Ben Roethlisberger took care of himself as far as conditioning.
If Ben took care of himself, Tomlin would have one more Super Bowl victory, and it would totally change his perception.
Most Steelers fans didn’t care because Ben looked and acted like them.
I wish I had a quarterback that we had a QB more like Tom Brady: genius that took care of his body impeccably.
You should note Roethlisberger’s refusal to help bring along heir apparent Rudolph, as well. Like Rodgers in GB, he seemed to take the drafting as a personal affront rather than realizing that a franchise must prepare for when their star QB begins to age and fade. They haven’t recovered from that point and still have no QB that will lead them anywhere
You’re right about the personal issue regarding health but let’s face it, the guy took a beating in his playing career, much more so than Brady ever did.
Brady had too … he couldnt move around like Ben. His whole game was pocket awareness and quick-release mechanics. I still dont think young QBs study him enough.