Mike Tomlin steps down after 19
seasons as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers
[January 14, 2026]
By WILL GRAVES
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin was an unknown when the Pittsburgh
Steelers plucked him from obscurity in 2007 and handed the young and
charismatic Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator one of the most
stable jobs in sports.
Over the next 19 seasons, Tomlin wrote his own chapter with one of
the NFL's marquee franchises, winning a Super Bowl and going to
another while becoming one of the most respected voices — if
idiosyncratic — voices in the game.
Asked repeatedly what separated Tomlin from his peers, his players
pointed to his consistency. Tomlin was the same coach day after day,
season after season.
That consistency, far too often of late, also bled into the results.
And after yet another quick playoff exit, Tomlin used his voice one
last time to tell team president Art Rooney II that it was time to
try something else.
The longest-tenured head coach in major American professional sports
stepped down from his job leading the Steelers on Tuesday, a seismic
shift that will have ripple effects throughout the league.
“I am deeply grateful to Art Rooney II and the late Ambassador (Dan)
Rooney for their trust and support,” Tomlin said in a statement
released by the team. “I am also thankful to the players who gave
everything they had every day, and to the coaches and staff whose
commitment and dedication made this journey so meaningful.”
Art Rooney II, who took over for his Hall of Fame father as team
president in 2003, lauded Tomlin for his dedication to the franchise
and ability to churn out competitive teams year after year in an era
when parity is the norm.
“It is hard for me to put into words the level of respect and
appreciation I have for Coach Tomlin,” Rooney said in a statement.
“He guided the franchise to our sixth Super Bowl championship and
made the playoffs 13 times during his tenure, including winning the
AFC North eight times in his career. His track record of never
having a losing season in 19 years will likely never be duplicated.”
Tomlin's early success, however, leveled off into a pattern of solid
if not always spectacular play, followed by a playoff cameo that
ended with the Steelers looking outclassed at every turn.
The 53-year-old Tomlin won 193 regular-season games in Pittsburgh,
tied with Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the most victories in
franchise history. But their resumes diverged when it comes to the
playoffs. While Noll won four Super Bowls in the 1970s, Tomlin went
8-12 in the postseason, losing each of his last seven playoff games,
all by double-digit margins.
The final came Monday night, when the AFC North champions squandered
some early momentum before getting drilled 30-6 by Houston, the most
lopsided home playoff loss in team history.
There were chants of “Fire Tomlin!” as the clock kicked toward zero,
though they weren't nearly as impassioned as they were in November
while the Steelers were getting pushed around by Buffalo in a loss
that dropped their record to 6-6.
Tomlin did his best to tune out the noise and his team responded,
the way it seemingly always did during his tenure. Pittsburgh won
four of its final five games, including a sweep of Baltimore that
gave the club its first AFC North title since 2020.
The optimism, however, dimmed once the Texans asserted themselves.
The NFL's top-ranked defense suffocated Aaron Rodgers and
Pittsburgh's offense while the league's highest-paid defense wilted
late.
It was a familiar and frustrating pattern for a place where, as
Tomlin noted not long after his introduction, “the standard is the
standard.”
[to top of second column] |
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin reacts after a Houston
Texans touchdown during the second half of NFL wild-card playoff
football game, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene
J. Puskar)
And while that remains the case for a team whose
members walk by six Lombardi Trophies every day on the way to work,
the results had plateaued. The Steelers finished with 9 or 10 wins
in each of Tomlin's final five seasons, often doing just enough to
squeak into the playoffs before being exposed by a more talented
opponent.
Tomlin had two years left on the contract extension he signed in
2024, with the club holding the option for 2027. Should Tomlin want
to return to coaching in the NFL before his contract with the
Steelers expired, the club could seek compensation.
Either way, his departure leaves the Steelers looking for a head
coach for just the third time since they hired Noll in 1969.
Pittsburgh likely won't lack for attractive candidates. The club's
stability combined with its ability to remain competitive even
without a franchise quarterback for the last half-decade means
whoever gets the job will be given substantial leeway to get the
team back to the top.
The announcement came as somewhat of a shock. In the final question
he fielded as head coach, Tomlin painted an upbeat picture about the
team's future.
“I'm always feel optimistic about what we’re capable of doing in
terms of putting together a group, certainly,” he said Monday night.
And with that, he stepped off the dais and into a future that will
not lack for options. Long one of the most confident and imminently
quotable people in football — his weekly news conferences were
peppered with what became known as “Tomlin-isms” — he could step
into television if he wants, as Cowher did after retiring.
Yet it seems just as likely that he will have his choice of jobs if
or when he wants to coach again. Players defended Tomlin — almost
uniformly popular within the locker room — to the end.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth called Tomlin “one of the best coaches I'll
ever play for, probably the best. In my opinion his message hasn't
got stale. I believe in him.”
Freiermuth added that his belief extended to general manager Omar
Khan, who will be in charge of finding the right person for one of
the most attractive coaching gigs in any league.
Tomlin's two predecessors are in the Hall of Fame. Tomlin could very
well find himself getting fitted for a gold jacket of his own. Yet
rather than try to come back next year and break Noll's record for
regular-season wins, he opted to, as Noll once famously put it, “get
on with his life's work.”
And the Steelers will try to find the right person to help them
return to the standard that the franchise lives by, one it clutched
at but never quite grasped during Tomlin's final years.
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