Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin steps down after 19 seasons: Why the split makes sense for Pittsburgh, and what’s next
- Mike Tomlin’s Steelers never had a losing record, but the teams weren’t great: Pittsburgh ended four of the last five seasons ranked 17th or worse in overall PFF grade.
- The chance to modernize a poor offense is key: The Steelers have been one of the least-efficient offenses since 2021, especially because of diminished quarterback play.
- 2026 NFL Draft season is here: Try the best-in-class PFF Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2026’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes
The NFL is a league of few constants; even the number of teams making the playoffs has shifted in the last six seasons. Now, another consistent theme — the Steelers being coached by Mike Tomlin — has shockingly come to an end.
Following Pittsburgh’s seventh straight playoff loss on Monday night, Tomlin announced that he had stepped away after 19 years at the helm of one of the NFL’s most historic franchises. Tomlin compiled a 193-114-2 record with 12 playoff berths in his decorated tenure, including winning Super Bowl XLIII.
On the outside, it may seem confusing why the Steelers would benefit from Tomlin’s departure — he’s one of the sport’s most respected and successful leaders of the era. But in reality, the Steelers’ last nine campaigns under Tomlin are emblematic of a franchise wading deep into mediocrity.
Pittsburgh’s 30-6 drubbing at the hands of the Texans in the wild-card round perfectly sums up the team’s latest playoff history, not winning a postseason game since the 2016 season — and getting dominated in the process. The Steelers posted a -0.503 EPA per play mark and a paltry 2.3 yards per play against an elite Houston defense, with their offensive ineptitude negating four turnover-worthy plays from C.J. Stroud. The fact that Pittsburgh trailed only 7-6 entering the fourth quarter was a borderline miracle, a typically improbable fate that caught up with Tomlin’s style of play.
The Steelers may tie for the league lead in Super Bowl titles, but the franchise’s recent history is a far cry from that elite panache. For context, the Browns, Giants, Bears and Commanders have all won at least one playoff game since Pittsburgh last did — despite receiving significantly fewer tokens of entry. That level of futility becomes magnified considering the Steelers have boasted some of the better players of the era in Ben Roethlisberger, T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward and Antonio Brown.
While it’s true that Tomlin never finished below .500 — a distinction that will likely land him in Canton — his ability to steer sinking ships masqueraded what has been a series of fundamentally average-at-best football teams. Consider that the Steelers have finished four of the last five years ranking 17th or worse in overall PFF grade, and have cracked the top 10 only once since 2017.
The problems with Pittsburgh primarily stem from very subpar offensive production, combining bad play under center with puzzling personnel usage and development. Indeed, over the last five years, the Steelers are 22nd in EPA per play, 26th in success rate and 24th in scoring drive rate. The inability to find a long-term answer at quarterback — with the turnstile including Kenny Pickett, Russell Wilson, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and Aaron Rodgers in 2025 — has seen Pittsburgh own the 18th-ranked PFF passing grade since Roethlisberger’s retirement after the 2021 season.
Even the Steelers’ defense — which was the most expensive in the NFL and laden with talent at all three levels — fell flat on numerous occasions. Since 2024, Pittsburgh’s defense is 15th in EPA per play and 20th in success rate while allowing the seventh-most explosive plays. Miscommunication, poor situational execution and deficient discipline have been the Achilles’ heel for a unit that should have been one of the best in that span.
While Tomlin isn’t entirely responsible for the Steelers’ long-standing search for a solid quarterback, he unquestionably shoulders blame for both the team’s roster construction and ability to perform. Nearly every season since 2017, Pittsburgh inexplicably lost multiple games to inferior opponents including against the Browns in Week 17 with a chance to clinch the 2025 AFC North title. Moreover, his teams were predicated on opponents making mistakes (which, admittedly, they often did) instead of playing sound football for four quarters themselves.
As a pure decision-maker, Tomlin has also been one of the more passive coaches in a period defined by taking aggressive chances, playing to win, extending possessions and putting pressure on the opposition. Since the 2024 season, the Steelers rank 21st in “Agree” rate in PFF’s fourth-down decision model, which suggests that they’ve failed to take gambles that they should’ve. Likewise, Tomlin’s timeout usage has regularly been perplexing — including utilizing all three in the second half of Week 18’s division-deciding game against the Ravens with 3:53 remaining.
Tomlin’s work to stabilize the Steelers and raise the floor of a team is essentially unparalleled in NFL history. But by barely securing a winning record every season, he simultaneously kept Pittsburgh trapped in purgatory — never good enough to actually compete for a Super Bowl, and never bad enough to land a high pick for blue-chip prospects. That’s unenviable territory for any franchise.
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While Tomlin’s exit may be stunning, it also encompasses the state of the most recent coaching cycle: Being merely good enough won’t cut it, especially with the impact that newer head coaches have provided. The immediate results of DeMeco Ryans, Mike Macdonald, Dan Quinn, Ben Johnson, Liam Coen and many more — especially in their first years with new franchises — reveals that it’s probably smarter to give a burgeoning mind a chance, instead of tolerating unsatisfying results from a veteran.
Not having Tomlin stand on the Acrisure Stadium sidelines will be tough to comprehend until the Steelers’ first kickoff of the 2026 season. At the same time, it also offers the team a chance to build a better roster for its long-term future.
While Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation is yet again in flux, hiring an offensive visionary could lay a stronger and more modern foundation, particularly under center and at receiver. For instance, trading for someone like Kyler Murray or Tua Tagovailoa with a refined offensive play-caller could ostensibly work, as we’ve seen with other first-round reclamation projects in recent seasons. Even if Pittsburgh turns to a defensive-oriented coach, a breath of fresh air could prevent schematic predictability and secure solutions at positions like cornerback and linebacker.
The reality of Tomlin’s recent results in Pittsburgh is paradoxical. Yes, he would likely be coveted by most NFL teams; a slew of franchises would covet winning even eight games every season. But it’s also true that Tomlin’s time with the Steelers had long run its course — and that this breakup can finally allow the organization to rejoin the league’s upper tier.
