Mike Tomlin steps away from Steelers

Yahoo ^ | 1/13/25 | Yahoho

[Jolla]

For just the third time since Chuck Noll was hired in 1969, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be hiring a new head coach. Mike Tomlin's run with the Steelers is over.

[jimjohn]

Tomlin is/was one of the good ones.

19 good winning years, 1 super bowl, and pretty much stayed out of controversies.

That’s pretty amazing for anyone in the NFL for 20 decades.

[T.B. Yoits]

From the article: Mike Tomlin steps away from Steelers

because the NFL and the Steelers corporations don't want to say "fired the black guy", especially coming from the team whose owner, Dan Rooney, created the Didn't Earn It (DEI) 'Rooney Rule' for the NFL.

[allendale]

Mike Tomlin is a historical figure in Pittsburg and the NFL. People like Mike Tomlin are never fired. There is a mutual parting when both sense the tenure has run its course. Tomlin will part with a sterling record. He may rest a while, perhaps become a commentator or may even coach again.

[bigdaddy45]

Relax. Black coaches get fired all the time. I just KNEW someone was going to drag race into all of this.

[Codeflier]

I think the point is the Steelers created the DEI “Rooney Rule”. So the Steelers are under different pressure to never, under any circumstance say they fired a black coach. No way a white coach wouldn’t have been fired years ago for such mediocrity.

[dowcaet]

Tomlin won’t have any problems finding another NFL HC job. He’ll be back on the sidelines after a year off.

[jospehm20]

I hope Jerry Jones doesn’t hear this news.

[T.B. Yoits]

I just KNEW someone was going to drag race into all of this

Um, no. Race was dragged into it years ago when the Steelers and the NFL institutionalized racist hiring practices. It's called the "Rooney Rule" because Dan Rooney INSISTED on it. If they don't want to be considered racist, they can start by doing away with the Rooney Rule.

This is the same NFL that institutionalized racism when they showed their true colors and spit in the face of all Americans, kneeling in solidarity with Communist organizations such as Black Lives Matter^TM.

[BHI2025]

TRUE!!!!!!!!

[P8riot]

That’s pretty amazing for anyone in the NFL for 20 decades.

That's a long time to be anywhere. Getting a little long in the tooth.

[discostu]

They were good at drafting. You just have to look at how many former Steelers have rings elsewhere. It was really cap management that’s killed them for a decade. They way overpaid Big Ben and then have been on this cycle of restructuring his contract and deferring cap hit over and over. Leaving them no money to pay others. Last season was finally the last cap hit for Ben. First time in a decade they came into free agency with cap room. And they used it to get Rogers and a bunch of old defenders who’ve spent the whole season running out of gas in the 4th quarter. Really when you look at how much talent they bled it’s kind of a miracle they’ve been as good as they’ve been.

[DIRTYSECRET]

$39 million in cap space for next year but no QB. They need an OT, WR and a couple of guys on defense. Rogers doesn’t get around very well now and even a good OL is one injury away from turning him into average. Injuries are everywhere and it’s become the biggest factor in winning.

[verum ago]

Made the playoffs 13 out of 19 seasons and the superbowl twice.

But at the same time, both of those Superbowls and 5 of his 8 playoff wins were in the first 5 years of his tenure, i.e. with a team largely put together by Cowher.

The Steelers haven't had a playoff win in 9 years now. "Made the playoffs" is largely a nice way of saying "first-round eliminations" in Tomlin's case.

I am not going to call Tomlin a bad coach- the fact that he never had a losing season is truly remarkable.

But there's also no denying that while he wasn't bad, his overall trajectory was basically a steady, gentle downward glide.

Yes, there's probably blame enough to go around in terms of ownership and other management, but the bottom line is still that Tomlin's best days are old enough to vote, and were with a personnel group that wasn't really 'his'.

[mouske]

“...in the NFL for 20 decades.”

I don’t think the NFL is 200 years old.

[montag813]

Aaron should follow. Two greats who played their last game together.

[Vermont Lt]

I know they had a tough year, but I have like Tomlin for years.

I am glad he “decided” rather than getting publicly booted. That’s as respectful as NFL coach firing goes.

[Vermont Lt]

And we in New England are grateful he landed here.

[ratzoe]

Tomlin has a huge offer from Fox on the table to be an analyst....he’ll sit out 2026 then could return to coaching in 2027...

He won't be back in the coaching game, he will be a star as an analyst. Careful what you wish for, Steeler fans, Tomlin got teams that had no business making the playoffs consistently in the playoffs, not his fault that they didn't have the players to go deep into the playoffs. Steeler nation, get ready for a long playoff drought, unless they hire Harbaugh...wouldn't that be hilarious?? lol

[Dr. Sivana]

And we in New England are grateful he landed here.

Speak for your part of New England. Connecticut is still largely Giants territory. The Patriots fans now are either young adults who grew up with Brady, or bandwagon jumpers.
Heck, Even Boston could hardly be bothered with the Pats when there's the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins. To many, Doug FLutie is still the biggest football hero from his time with the BC Eagles. It is hubris for the Patriots to claim six entire states as its territory.

You got a great coach in Vrabel, though.

[atc23]

He’s far too old to be coach today with the nearly complete feminization of 80% of NFL players