Art Rooney Responds to Questions Surrounding Mike Tomlin's Future With Steelers

There's been frustrations with the Steelers' lack of playoff success in the last decade.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stands on the sidelines. / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Mike Tomlin's job with the Pittsburgh Steelers has always seemed pretty secure. However, after the team lost in their sixth consecutive playoff game this month, there's been a lot of questions surrounding Tomlin's future with the Steelers.

Steelers owner Art Rooney II talked a bit about speculation around Tomlin's job when speaking to media on Monday. He emphasized how successful Tomlin's been in Pittsburgh, with his 18 consecutive non-losing records, but also acknowledged the fans' frustrations with playoff failures.

"When you look at how many games Mike has won in this league, you don't win that many games if you're not a good coach," Rooney said, via ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "And I know he's frustrated like we all are in terms of not being able to take that next step, but we still feel good about him being the leader and still think he has the strengths that he always had in terms of being able to lead a team.

"The other side of the coin is when you look at the fact that we have six, seven, eight teams a year that turn their coaches over. When you have a good coach, you just try to keep building with them."

Although Rooney didn't give a clear answer on Tomlin's future, he did say that it seems "unlikely" that the Steelers bring back both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as they are becoming free agents. We'll see what changes Pittsburgh makes this offseason.

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