NFL Has Massive Faith in Steelers' Mike Tomlin

The Pittsburgh Steelers head coach is viewed much differently across the league.
Nov 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin celebrates a 18-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
Nov 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin celebrates a 18-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are headed into their biggest offseason in eight years. Only because for the last eight years, fans and the franchise have been waiting for change - and it hasn't come. Now, they're backed against the wall, with many giving up on an orginization that was once elite. And giving up the head coach even faster.

Mike Tomlin is now one first-round playoff loss away from tying Marty Schottenheimer for the most one-and-done exits in postseason history. That comes with five-straight playoff losses and eight years without a playoff win.

According to Tomlin, it's "football justice," admitting his team wasn't good enough to win in the postseason. But with that loss will come change.

"Certainly, there's change that comes with this time of year. Certainly, there's change that comes when you don't have the desired outcome," Tomlin said. "And so those are just the realities of the business. I would imagine there's going tobe some things that change around here on a lot of levels, but that's just this game, as I mentioned, and so I understand that. I'm open to that."

Tomlin won't be one of those changes. The head coach signed a three-year contract extension in 2024, locking him down until the end of the 2027 season. He's not being traded. He's not being fired. This team will continue to run through Tomlin, and for the 19th year in a row, Pittsburgh will be led by a coach that has never had a losing season.

There are reasons to want change. There are also reasons to believe that Tomlin is the right man for the job. He continues to pull non-playoff teams into the playoffs. He carries quarterbacks like Devlin Hodges into non-losing seasons. And yes, many are hoping for a disaster of a year so the team can get a high draft pick. But the Steelers don't want that - and believe they're one right call away from going the distance.

Fun fact: In 2024, six teams started a backup quarterback at least five times. Only the Steelers made the postseason. They did it back-to-back years, with Kenny Pickett missing five games in 2023.

"If anyone looks at the Steelers objectively, it’s hard to not find multiple seasons over the last eight years where Mike willed them into the playoffs with a non-playoff team," an anonymous NFL general manager told Steelers On SI. "So, he’s a victim of his own success that they’re always picking in the 20's and have no chance to rebuild and he’s always getting non-playoff teams into the playoffs.

"That is why there are 20 to 24 teams that would be standing on his front porch with cookies and bourbon, begging him to come be their head coach," they added.

Change is going to come in Pittsburgh this offseason. There will be new coaches, new players and a larger sense of urgency. But Mike Tomlin isn't going anywhere.

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.