Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Doesn't Hold Back About Mike Tomlin

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers ended their season with a blowout loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round.

The Steelers played one of their least complete games, with neither the offense nor defense playing excellent when the game came to a close. With that in consideration, the Steelers fans and media have quickly looked toward quarterback Aaron Rodgers and head coah Mike Tomlin as carrying the blame for the Steelers failures.

With that in mind, Rodgers took the podium to address the media following the game to speak about the game, with him possibly addressing his future expected. In reality, the quarterback sought to address the two coaches that have led the best moments of his recent career, fervently defending both Tomlin and Green Bay Packers' current head coach Matt LeFleur. LeFleur's job has been called into question recently due to the tough loss that the Packers held against their fierce rival in the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round.

Sep 28, 2025; Dublin, Ireland; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) and coach Mike Tomlin shake hands after an NFL International Series game against the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"This league has changed a lot in my 21 years," Rodgers said. "When you hear a conversation about the Mike Tomlins of the world, Matt LaFleurs of the world, those are just two that I played for. When I first got in the league, there wouldn't be conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat. But the way that the league is covered now and the way that there's snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they're talking about, to me that's an absolute joke.

"For either of those two guys to be on the hot seat is really apropos of where we're at as a society and a league because obviously Matt's done a lot of great things in Green Bay and we had a lot of success. Mike T's had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years. More than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don't think about making a change. But there's a lot of pressure that comes from the outside and obviously that sways decisions from time to time, but it's not how I would do things and not how the league used to be."

"When you have the right guy, and the culture is right, you don't think about making a change."

–Aaron Rodgers shared his thoughts on the futures of Mike Tomlin and Matt LaFleur pic.twitter.com/uIIV7VNtAz
— ESPN (@espn) January 13, 2026

Rodgers seems to look back on the beginning of his career, believing that the success that both Tomlin and LeFleur have accounted for in the regular season would have been more than enough to keep their jobs, but the current NFL landscape has proven to be more cutthroat.

There is some credence to this, as top coaches like John Harbaugh have found themselves jobless despite regular season successes due to a lack of playoff success with top talents. Although it is too early at this point due to both teams making the playoffs, it is entirely possible that both Tomlin and Lefleur find themselves without a head coaching gig fairly soon. Both would likely get a job quite quickly, but uncertaintly certainly looms for both.

The statement by Rodgers come at an interesting time, as it is possible that his comments become the last comments that Rodgers makes on the NFL overall before his retirement. Rodgers had previously stated that this could be his final run in the NFL, and he finished the season on a pick-six passing play. The Steelers seem less and less likely to retain him, so his comments on his two recent coaches of record could be his final comments as a player.

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