Steelers Owner Backs Mike Tomlin Amid Offseason Speculation

The Pittsburgh Steelers took an ugly tumble at the end of their 2024 season, but it hasn’t changed the way the organization perceives head coach Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin’s Steelers lost their last five matchups consecutively, including a first-round playoff battle, 28-14, to Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Pittsburgh’s final bid at keeping its season alive culminated in everything that went wrong from Dec. 15 to its AFC wild-card appearance, raising questions — some of which, pointed the finger at Tomlin.

Is it time to turn the page? Should an eighth straight season without a playoff win prompt Tomlin’s firing? Does Pittsburgh have a reason to keep Tomlin aboard throughout his current extension (set to expire in 2027)? Steelers owner and president Art Rooney II clarified all those questions by taking a stance on Monday.

“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 II said, per NFL.com’s Nick Shook. “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.”

The Steelers weren’t expected to be neck and neck with the upper echelon of the AFC: the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Ravens. Still, Pittsburgh went 8-2 to begin the year and pulled off a pair of significant trades by acquiring wide receiver Mike Williams — from the New York Jets — and edge defender Preston Smith — from the Green Bay Packers. This raised hopes that a toss-up season could become something greater.

Now, it’s back to the drawing board yet again.

Pittsburgh committed to its Russell Wilson-Justin Fields quarterback duo last offseason, which garnered plenty of attention during training camp and the preseason. Rooney, unwilling to favor one over the other publicly, also campaigned to retain at least one of the two veteran quarterbacks for a re-run next season.

“I think both of them see themselves as starters and I don’t know that they want to share the same job again next year,” Rooney said, per Shook. “So, I would say most likely we probably don’t wind up bringing them both back.”

Tomlin’s Steelers have endured postseason elimination in their last six consecutive appearances, including four straight times in the wild-card round while allowing an average of 38.3 points to opponents. He’s gone 3-9 since 2011, becoming the only Super Bowl-winning head coach to ever suffer six straight playoff exits. But while recency bias certainly doesn’t favor Tomlin, it seems as though ownership does and that’s all that matters.

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