Whenever the Steelers hit a rough patch, a portion of the team’s fan base begins clamoring for a coaching change. Amidst the team’s current struggles, will take place Home losses that make history Against two winning teams, the noise is back.
And it’s probably louder than ever.
Will the Steelers move on from Mike Tomlin? With three coaches since 1969, it just wasn’t their way. With no losing seasons in his first 16 years on the job, it’s unthinkable to expect the Steelers to fire Tomlin if they miss the playoffs and fail to finish .500 or better.
That doesn’t mean it’s not time for a change. It begs the question whether Tomlin thinks it’s time to leave. He has one year left on his contract. He could end it and become a free agent; That’s something few NFL coaches ever do. He could resign, sit out a year, and come back to a new team in 2025 (with compensation to Pittsburgh).
Or the Steelers could trade Tomlin after the upcoming season.
At a time when there is plenty of speculation about whether another team will try to hire Patriots coach Bill Belichick (with or without a loss), why not call the Steelers about Tomlin?
Between the two coaches, Tomlin would be the more desirable. He’s 20 years younger, which means he’ll be a coach longer than Belichick.
And Tomlin has done well. Of course, it’s been 15 years since his only Super Bowl win. Yes, the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. However, many teams have done worse than the Steelers over the last 17 years.
Continued relevance is more important to franchises than a once-in-a-generation Super Bowl run. Each year competing teams sell all their tickets – and they see those tickets actually get used. That means overpriced drinks, hot dogs and other items on game day. More prime time games. And, as a result, a lot of money.
Check out the teams looking for new coaches. Think what Tomlin could do for the Generals, Chargers, Bears or Buccaneers.
Again, this isn’t about whether the Steelers will fire him. It’s about whether Tomlin will be ready and willing to step up. And whether the Steelers will make a reasonable demand for compensation is a question of whether Tomlin will have another year of coaching before he has the ability to go anywhere as a rare NFL commodity.
A head coaching free agent.
