Steelers Request HC Interviews With Jesse Minter, Brian Flores, Anthony Weaver
The Steelers continue adding candidates in their search for a new head coach. They’ve requested interviews with Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Vikings D-coordinator Brian Flores and Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, per reports from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network and Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
Looking for a replacement for Mike Tomlin, whose 19-year run with the franchise ended Tuesday, the Steelers previously sent out interview requests for Rams assistants Chris Shula and Nate Scheelhaase. Aside from Scheelhaase, all of the Steelers’ early candidates come with a defensive background. The same was true of Tomlin when the Steelers hired him in January 2007.
Minter doesn’t have any head coaching experience, but his strong work as an assistant has made him a hot commodity across the league. All nine teams with a head coaching vacancy have either requested an interview or have conducted one with the 42-year-old, who has effectively teamed with Jim Harbaugh over the past few seasons.
Minter was Harbaugh’s D-coordinator at Michigan from 2022-23. He followed Harbaugh to the Chargers after a national championship-winning campaign with the Wolverines. The Chargers’ defense has ranked near the top of the league in back-to-back seasons under Minter. The unit finished 2024 first in scoring and 11th in yards, and it ranked ninth in scoring and fifth in yards this season.
Flores, who went 24-25 as the Dolphins’ head coach from 2019-21, was on Tomlin’s staff in Pittsburgh in 2022. He served as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach that year. Flores then left to run the Vikings’ defense, a group that finished 2025 third in yards and seventh in points. Flores’ contract is now up after three successful seasons, but head coach Kevin O’Connell has made it known that retaining him is a high priority. However, the Vikings will have to fend off teams that consider Flores a head coaching candidate and others that want him as a defensive coordinator.
Weaver has already held head coaching interviews with the Cardinals, Falcons and Ravens in the past week. A former defensive lineman with the Ravens and Texans from 2002-08, Weaver has coached with those two teams and the Jets, Bills, Browns and Dolphins since 2012. He was the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator from 2024-25, but with head coach Mike McDaniel out, Weaver’s future in Miami is uncertain. Even if the 45-year-old doesn’t leave the Dolphins for a head coaching job, he could be an assistant elsewhere in 2026.
WR Adam Thielen Announces Retirement
Retirement rumors followed Adam Thielen in 2025, and the veteran wide receiver will indeed step away from the game. The 13-year vet announced his retirement Wednesday following a late-season Steelers cameo.
Suiting up with Pittsburgh after a waiver claim, Thielen was with three teams in 2025. The Panthers traded Thielen to the Vikings in August, giving the accomplished pass catcher a chance to return home to a team attempting to follow up its 14-3 campaign with another playoff berth. As that fizzled, Thielen wound up on a postseason-bound club after the Steelers claimed his contract in December.
Once Minnesota moved on, it became known Thielen would retire after the season. He played an auxiliary role in the Steelers’ loss to the Texans on Monday night, catching two passes for 25 yards. Thielen also posted a 1,000-yard season as a Panther in 2023. But he will be best remembered for his contributions in his home state.
Playing 11 seasons with the Vikings, Thielen ranks in the top five in receptions, yardage and touchdown catches with the franchise. His 55 TD grabs as a Viking trail only Cris Carter and Randy Moss in team history. For his career, Thielen caught 64 touchdown passes, adding nine with Carolina. No additional scores came with Pittsburgh, but the former UDFA did carve out a role as Aaron Rodgers searched for tertiary targets alongside D.K. Metcalf.
Starring at Division II Minnesota State, Thielen became one of the most unlikely wide receiver success stories by catching on with the Vikings after a rookie minicamp tryout. Following a 2013 redshirt year of sorts, Thielen became a key player during the Mike Zimmer seasons. After finishing with fewer than 150 receiving yards in 2014 and ’15, Thielen erupted for 967 during Sam Bradford‘s 2016 Minnesota season and sustained that momentum after that year. Thielen eclipsed 1,200 yards in 2017 and ’18, topping out with a career-high 1,373 in Kirk Cousins‘ Vikes debut, and saw his first stint with the franchise last through the 2022 season.
The Vikings gave Thielen two extensions during his initial Twin Cities tenure. Minnesota re-upped Thielen on a four-year, $19.25MM extension in 2017 — after the team had applied a second-round RFA tender. That proved to be incredibly team-friendly, and the Vikings returned to the table to give their then-Stefon Diggs complement a four-year, $64.8MM deal in 2019. The Vikings had both Thielen and Diggs on big-ticket deals in 2019, but they traded the mercurial standout to the Bills in March 2020. Minnesota then added Justin Jefferson as its lead option, but Thielen remained an essential piece in the Cousins-piloted offense.
Thielen combined for 24 TD receptions over Jefferson’s first two seasons, helping Cousins to big numbers (as the QB signed two Vikes extensions). After Kevin O’Connell‘s first season produced a 13-win showing, the Vikings released Thielen upon being unable to agree on a reworked contract. A nice market formed for the street free agent, and the Panthers ponied up $25MM over three years to give their to-be-determined No. 1 overall pick (eventually Bryce Young) a veteran to target. While Carolina missed on some investments during Scott Fitterer‘s final year as GM, Thielen totaled 1,014 receiving yards to lead the woeful 2023 Panthers edition by a wide margin.
Rebuffing trade interest in Thielen in 2024, the Panthers reworked his contract this past year but eventually relented on a trade. They sent Thielen back to Minnesota in a deal that brought a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2026 fifth to Carolina. Thielen being active for more than 10 games in 2025 triggered a condition on the Vikings’ side of the trade; that bumped the 2026 pick Minnesota received to a sixth-rounder. The Vikes also collected a 2027 seventh in the late-summer swap.
Thielen’s second Vikings stint did not offer much of consequence, as Minnesota fell out of contention during a rocky J.J. McCarthy debut season. Thielen surpassed his Minnesota 2.0 output (eight receptions) by catching 11 passes in just five Steelers regular-season games.
Steelers’ Art Rooney II Addresses Situation Post-Tomlin
In the aftermath of head coach Mike Tomlin‘s departure from Pittsburgh, Steelers owner/president Art Rooney II made some things clear from the team’s perspective. One such item made clear, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was that Tomlin was not in danger of losing his job before he stepped down. Rooney expressed that he was willing “to take another run at it” with Tomlin next season, which he had expected to discuss with the long-time head coach before his resignation. 
Despite his desire to run it back with Tomlin in 2026, Rooney asserted that he made no attempts to talk Tomlin out of his decision. “I did not,” Rooney said in response to the question, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post. “He was pretty clear about what his intentions were…We had a great conversation, and I understand where he was.”
Mike DeFabo of The Athletic added on that part of the reason Rooney declined to push back on Tomlin’s decision was because it was, as the owner framed it to the media, a “family-driven” exit. Tomlin’s decision not to coach in the near future had already been reported, but DeFabo’s wording stated that “Tomlin does not plan on coaching again anytime soon.”
Moving forward, Rooney and general manager Omar Khan will reportedly be leading the search for Tomlin’s replacement, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. The pair ruled out a number of candidates fairly quickly as Rooney told the media that he didn’t “expect anyone on the current staff” to be a candidate to step into the open head coaching role, per DeFabo. Realistically, this would only apply to offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, and we can probably just narrow it down to Smith since he’s been rumored as a candidate in New York, requested to interview with the Cardinals, and interviewed with the Titans.
Another aspect of the future affected by Tomlin’s exit, in the eyes of Rooney, is the team’s quarterback position. After Aaron Rodgers led the team to the playoffs in his first year with the team, there was some speculation that the 42-year-old passer would be running it back as Pittsburgh’s quarterback for the 2026 season. The other option the veteran is reportedly considering is one in which he hangs up his cleats for good. As Rooney puts it (via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated), “Aaron came here to play for Mike, so I think it’ll most likely affect his decision.”
Even if his starting quarterback departs along with his head coach, though, it doesn’t appear as if Rooney is expecting to blow things up further. He’s looking to carry on Tomlin’s moniker of “the standard is the standard” and expecting the next head coach and quarterback to pick up where Tomlin and Rodgers left off. When asked if the team could enter a “rebuild” phase, he pushed back on that notion, saying he didn’t “like that word” and that he couldn’t understand why anyone would “waste a year of your life not trying to contend,” per Pryor.
Instead, Rooney and Khan will hit the ground running to try and find Tomlin’s replacement while righting the ship in a direction that hopefully leads to the franchise’s first playoff win in 10 years.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/14/26
More teams signed players to reserve/futures deals on Wednesday:
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Chargers
New Orleans Saints
- DE Myles Cole
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
- LS Cal Adomitis, DT Kyler Baugh, WR Cole Burgess, DE Anthony Goodlow, S Daequan Hardy, S Jack Henderson, DE K.J. Henry, RB Max Hurleman, G Steven Jones, RB Lew Nichols, WR John Rhys Plumlee, LB Julius Welschof, T Aiden Williams
San Francisco 49ers
Steelers Request HC Interviews With Rams’ Chris Shula, Nate Scheelhaase
One day after Mike Tomlin resigned, Pittsburgh has picked a pair of Rams assistants as its first head coaching candidates. The Steelers have requested interviews with Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula and pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Pittsburgh turned heads when it tapped Tomlin, then just 34 years old, as Bill Cowher‘s successor in January 2007. Tomlin went on to last 19 years in the Steel City. He won a Super Bowl, led the Steelers to the playoffs 13 times, and famously didn’t post a losing season before stepping down from the role Tuesday.
As a future Hall of Famer and a Pittsburgh institution, Tomlin will be a tough act to follow for anyone, let alone a first-time head coach. Shula and Scheelhaase don’t carry any head coaching experience, but they’ve earned strong reputations for their work on Sean McVay‘s staff. Teams in the market for head coaches have taken notice of the two this offseason.
There are nine clubs that don’t have a head coach. Seven have requested interviews with the 39-year-old Shula, grandson of the legendary Don Shula.
Chris Shula has worked under McVay in various roles since 2017, the beginning of the head coach’s tenure in Los Angeles. Shula took over as the Rams’ defensive coordinator in 2024. In their first post-Aaron Donald season, the Rams finished a below-average 17th in points and 26th in yardage. They improved to 10th and 17th, respectively, in those categories in 2025. The Rams also ranked fifth in takeaways and seventh in sacks during the regular season.
Scheelhaase, 35, is a former Illinois quarterback who began his coaching career at the school in 2015. He went on to work for Iowa State, including as its offensive coordinator in 2023, before jumping to the pros in 2024. He spent last year as the Rams’ offensive assistant and passing game specialist. McVay moved Scheelhaase to pass game coordinator duties this season.
Considering the Steelers, Ravens, Browns and Raiders have all requested interviews with Scheelhaase, it’s clear his stock around the league is rising. It helps that the Rams boast one of the game’s premier aerial attacks. Quarterback Matthew Stafford may be weeks from winning his first MVP. His favorite target, Puka Nacua, led the league with 129 receptions during the season, and Davante Adams hauled in an NFL-best 14 touchdowns.
Thanks in part to Shula and Scheelhaase, the Rams are still alive heading into the divisional round. They’ll face the Bears on Sunday with a spot in the NFC title game on the line. Whenever the Rams’ season ends, they could lose at least one of their up-and-coming assistants to a team in need of a head coach. Pittsburgh, which is looking for its fourth sideline leader since 1969, has emerged as a potential landing spot.
Mike Tomlin Resigns As Steelers HC
Mike Tomlin‘s 19-year Steelers coaching run will come to an end following the team’s wild-card loss to the Texans. The Pittsburgh icon informed his team he is stepping down, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler report.
This marks a sea-change offseason in the AFC North. Tomlin and John Harbaugh entered 2026 as the NFL’s longest-tenured HCs. Now, both are out of jobs. Three of the division’s teams, also including the Browns, are looking for leaders. Nine head coaching positions are now available around the league. Harbaugh is the biggest fish available; it is not fully known if Tomlin wants to enter the pool. This was not a firing, Schefter added during a SportsCenter appearance, noting this had been on Tomlin’s mind since before the season.
A report last week indicated Tomlin had an open invitation for a TV gig should he step aside in Pittsburgh, and veteran insider Jordan Schultz notes that is the expected path the Pennsylvania staple will take. Like Bill Cowher in 2007, Tomlin will be expected to enter the media realm.
Cowher ultimately never returned to coaching, but Schultz points to Tomlin eventually being part of the 2027 HC carousel. This would move him down a Sean Payton– or Bruce Arians-like path. If Tomlin pursues TV, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reports CBS, FOX, ESPN and NBC will have interest.
“During our meeting today, coach Tomlin informed me that he has decided to step down as our head coach,” Steelers owner Art Rooney II said in a statement. “Obviously, I am extremely grateful to Mike for all the hard work, dedication and success we have shared over the last 19 years. It is hard for me to put into words the level of respect and appreciation I have for coach Tomlin.
“His track record of never having a losing season in 19 years will likely never be duplicated. My family and I, and everyone connected to Steelers management, are forever grateful for the passion and dedication Mike Tomlin has devoted to Steelers football.”
Tomlin, 53, will walk away after six straight playoff one-and-dones. The Steelers ran into a defensive buzzsaw in the No. 5-seeded Texans on Monday night, losing 30-6. While playoff shortcomings defined the second half of Tomlin’s Steelers tenure, he is a Super Bowl-winning HC who made it back to the NFL’s biggest stage two years later.
Nearly 15 years after Tomlin’s Steelers lost Super Bowl XLV to the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers, the two teamed up when the future Hall of Fame quarterback signed with Pittsburgh. Rodgers’ career may well end with the loss to Houston as well, though the QB icon has said he is open to returning. With Tomlin playing such a key role in Rodgers’ joining the Steelers, will he still entertain a return for the 2026 season?
Two years remained on Tomlin’s contract, with the Steelers having until March 1 to exercise a 2027 option on the deal. Had the Steelers done so, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac notes approximately $50MM remained on the deal. A source informed Fowler that Tomlin did not see much left to chase in his current role. The accomplished HC will be a surefire Hall of Fame candidate, having gone 193-114-2 with the Steelers in a tenure that included 13 playoff berths and three AFC championship game appearances. The Steelers won eight playoff games under Tomlin, though the January success stopping by the 2017 season caused considerable unrest among Pittsburgh fans.
Tomlin quickly confirmed after a wild-card loss to the Ravens last season he would return, but The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson indicates a belief existed Tomlin felt underappreciated among contingents around Pittsburgh. Plenty had called for change, but it is notable it may have contributed to Tomlin dissatisfaction.
Frustration about the Steelers’ high-floor, low-ceiling status had festered for years, and chants calling for Tomlin’s firing rang out during a one-sided loss to the Bills in late November. As Tomlin-led teams have done repeatedly, however, the Steelers rallied down the stretch to avoid a losing season and book yet another playoff berth. Still, a report indicated just before Week 18 that Tomlin could still leave after Year 19. The Texans’ defense smothered Rodgers and Co. Monday night, turning the team’s first AFC North title in five years into another one-and-done — this one via blowout despite C.J. Stroud struggling for most of the game.
While the Raiders are looking for their fifth full-time head coach this decade, the Steelers’ Tomlin successor will only be the franchise’s fourth since 1969. Chuck Noll lasted 23 years in the Steel City, winning four Super Bowls and establishing the franchise as one of the NFL’s elite. Cowher succeeded Noll in 1992, winning immediately and guiding the team to two Super Bowls 10 years apart. Cowher won Super Bowl XL and stepped away a year later. The Steelers hired Tomlin at age 34, tabbing him despite only one season of coordinator experience (with the 2006 Vikings) on his resume.
Tomlin had coached the Buccaneers’ DBs for five seasons before that, working under Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden. This included a Super Bowl win as an assistant. The hire turned out to be a defining decision for the Steelers, who gave Tomlin seven extensions during his near-two-decade tenure.
Coaching a historically good Steelers defense in 2008, Tomlin saw a Ben Roethlisberger game-winning drive culminate with a Santonio Holmes toe-tapping touchdown to defeat the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. The Steelers lost 31-25 to the Packers two years later. The “Killer B’s” version of the Steelers advanced to the 2016 AFC title game, dropping a runaway loss to the Patriots. Pittsburgh’s divisional-round win in Kansas City that season is Tomlin’s most recent playoff win.
Tomlin’s tenure included wild-card losses to the likes of Tim Tebow and a Browns team competing without Kevin Stefanski, who was sidelined with COVID-19. Pittsburgh also dropped a divisional-round game at home to the Jaguars, allowing 45 points to a Blake Bortles-quarterbacked squad. The Steelers then lost their postseason openers to close the 2021, ’23 and ’24 seasons to form a trend that came to define them as of late. The most recent Tomlin extension came in 2024, and two more playoff appearances followed. But Pittsburgh has been unable to find a long-term quarterback option since Roethlisberger’s retirement, keeping the franchise in its current place.
The Steelers missed on Kenny Pickett in the 2022 first round, selecting the passer at No. 20 without trading up. That QB class, save for Brock Purdy‘s stunning San Francisco success, has underwhelmed. The Steelers benched Pickett late in the 2023 season and traded him to the Eagles shortly after signing Russell Wilson in March 2024. Pittsburgh pursued Matthew Stafford and a Justin Fields re-signing last year, with Rodgers being the team’s third choice.
The Steelers were not Rodgers’ first choice, either, with the 20-year veteran preferring Minnesota. But the sides made it work. Pittsburgh’s 10-7 record will once again leave a path to a QB draft pick sketchy, with the team set to hold the No. 21 overall pick in the upcoming draft. Rodgers coming back in a bridge scenario has surfaced as an option, but the Steelers’ next HC will need to solve this problem — especially as Tomlin defensive staples Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt are either in the twilight of their careers (Heyward) or moving toward it.
Pittsburgh also added veteran pieces to its roster in hopes of an elusive playoff victory, trading for Jalen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith and D.K. Metcalf. These moves came a year after they signed Patrick Queen in free agency. It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh proceeds with some of its veterans, as it is not out of the question the team will enter a new phase post-Tomlin.
This will represent a pivotal offseason for Omar Khan, who will make his first coaching hire as GM. Khan arrived in Pittsburgh before Tomlin and will now be tasked with helping Rooney find his successor. That to-be-determined coach will have big shoes to fill.
It will be interesting to see where Tomlin lands and if he will eventually coach again or take the Cowher path by settling into the TV industry. The Steelers retain Tomlin’s rights, like the Saints did with Payton. If/when Tomlin returns to the sideline elsewhere, Pittsburgh can recoup draft compensation in a trade scenario.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/13/26
The NFL’s latest reserve/futures deals…
Buffalo Bills
- OL Nick Broeker
Indianapolis Colts
- LB Devin Veresuk
Los Angeles Chargers
- LS Peter Bowden, WR Dalevon Campbell, DL TeRah Edwards, WR Luke Grimm, WR JaQuae Jackson, RB Amar Johnson, LB Emany Johnson, C Josh Kaltenberger, TE Tanner McLachlan, OLB Garmon Randolph, G Branson Taylor, QB DJ Uiagalelei, CB Isas Waxter, TE Thomas Yassmin
New York Giants
- DL Marlon Tuipulota
Pittsburgh Steelers
Mutual Interest Between Steelers, Aaron Rodgers For 2026 Deal
Last summer, Aaron Rodgers strongly indicated the 2025 campaign would be his last in the NFL. His one-year stint in Pittsburgh has gone well, though, and it could continue beyond tonight’s game. 
The Steelers have been willing to keep Rodgers in the fold for next season, and midway through the campaign it was reported Pittsburgh’s hope was for that to take place. The future Hall of Famer, meanwhile, has left the door open to playing at least one more year. It appears an extended arrangement would be welcomed by both parties.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network confirms (video link) there is a mutual interest between Rodgers and the Steelers to continue their partnership. The relationship between Rodgers and head coach Mike Tomlin remains strong, and Pittsburgh managed to win the AFC North this season with a 10-7 record. Aiming for a similar level of success in 2026 could obviously prove beneficial for all involved.
Rodgers’ legacy certainly took a hit during his Jets tenure, and a messy parting of ways with New York left his future unclear for much of last offseason. Limited free agent interest was shown, but a short-term Steelers pact long loomed as a reasonable proposition on both sides. A one-year deal was ultimately finalized, and it has proven to be worthwhile. Rodgers is now 42, but he missed only one game this season.
The four-time MVP did not match the statistical output of his best seasons, but an efficient passing output has proven sufficient in Pittsburgh this year. Improvements along the offensive line and at the receiver position would go a long way in providing a boost on offense for 2026. Keeping Rodgers in the fold would also give the unit a high floor next season.
The Steelers have been unable to find a long-term Ben Roethlisberger replacement since his retirement after the 2021 season. Efforts in the draft and along the free agent and trade routes have not yielded the desired results, but Rodgers has proven to be an effective stopgap option. Veteran Mason Rudolph and sixth-round rookie Will Howard are under contract for next season, so stability on the depth chart can be expected moving forward. It is unclear at this point if Rodgers will also be in the fold, but another deal being worked out with the Steelers would not come as a surprise.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/12/26
Today’s minor moves:
Houston Texans
- Activated from IR: S Jaylen Reed
- Elevated: DT Leki Fotu
- Waived: DE Darrell Taylor
New England Patriots
- Waived: RB D’Ernest Johnson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: CB Tre Flowers, CB D’Shawn Jamison
The Texans will get some extra reinforcement on their secondary and special teams for tonight’s playoff matchup. A rookie sixth-round pick, Jaylen Reed has spent half of the 2025 season on the sideline. He started the season on PUP thanks to a knee injury, but he managed to make his NFL debut in late October. He ended up getting into seven games (one start) for Houston, collecting 14 tackles (12 of which came in one game) in 73 defensive snaps. He landed on injured reserve in December after suffering a forearm injury that required surgery.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/9/26
Here are Friday’s minor moves as we head into the first weekend of the 2025-26 postseason:
Los Angeles Rams
- Elevated: OLB Nick Hampton, S Tanner Ingle
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Designated for return from IR: DE Isaiahh Loudermilk
The Rams calling up practice squad elevations in anticipation of the NFL’s opening playoff games tomorrow, while the Steelers are looking to add some defensive line depth for their own attempt at a playoff run.