Terry Bradshaw’s Brutally Harsh Quote on Mike Tomlin Resurfaces After Steelers’ Loss

Mike Tomlin and the Steelers had their season come to an end Monday with a blowout loss to the Texans. | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Mike Tomlin and the Steelers had their season come to an end Monday night with a blowout loss to the Texans. It marks yet another year that Pittsburgh was able to get to the playoffs but not win a game, which has many wondering if the franchise will move on from its longtime head coach.

While Tomlin wasn't ready to talk about his future after the game, Aaron Rodgers backed up his coach by saying it's an "absolute joke" that anyone is even questioning Tomlin's status with the team.

Tomlin has been in charge of the Steelers for 19 years and led them to a Super Bowl title in 2009 when Ben Roethlisberger and Co. beat the Cardinals in an absolute thriller. However, Pittsburgh now hasn't won a playoff game since the 2016 season and the lack of postseason success has many of the team's fans wanting a change at the top.

Speaking of 2016, a quote from Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw during that season has resfuraced after the Steelers' latest playoff defeat. While appearing on FS1's old show Speak for Yourself Bradshaw lit into Tomlin, saying he was more of a cheerleader than a coach.

"I don’t think he’s a great coach at all," Bradshaw said in 2016. "He’s a nice coach. And I’ve said this—he’s really a great cheerleader guy. I don’t know what he does. I don’t think he’s a great coach at all. His name never even pops into my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL."

Here's the clip of that rant:

Terry Bradshaw talking about Mike Tomlin 10 Years Ago#steelers pic.twitter.com/kl9pu5sUps

— Matthew Luciow (@matthewluciow92) January 13, 2026

Tomlin hasn't had a losing season since that quote from Bradshaw and he won two playoff games a few weeks after the former Steelers QB said those things but those are the last postseason wins he has on his résumé.

It will be interesting to see if the Steelers do finally make a move and fire Tomlin after another disappointing finish to a season.

If he does get relieved of his duties, Tomlin had a heck of a run leading one of the most storied franchises in the sport and will have other teams looking to bring him on to take over their squads.

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