The Pittsburgh Steelers are famous for their stability. They have had three head coaches since 1969.
Three. In 57 years. That is astounding.
However, there have rumblings all season that Mike Tomlin’s time with the Steelers might be nearing an end. Some have theorized that the Steelers and Tomlin will part ways, a likely scenario given that the last Pittsburgh coach to be fired was Bill Austin after the 1968 season. Others have suggested that Tomlin will either retire or take a job in television.
Whatever the case may be, Tomlin could be coaching the Steelers for the final time on Sunday night when they host the Baltimore Ravens in a showdown for the AFC North title at Acrisure Stadium.
The rumor mill has been churning this week in Pittsburgh about Tomlin’s situation. The one gaining the most traction is that Tomlin, whose contract is set to expire at the end of next season, will agree to the Steelers trading his rights for 2026.
Would it benefit the Steelers to make a coaching change? And would Tomlin be rejuvenated by moving to another team? Those are tough questions to answer.
On one hand, the Steelers need only to defeat or tie the Ravens to win their first division title since 2026. It would not be easy to rationalize moving on from a coach who just guided his team to a 10-7 record in the regular season,
Furthermore, the Steelers have never had a losing season during Tomlin’s 19 years as coach. His 192 regular-season wins are also tied with the legendary Chuck Noll for the most in franchise history.
Yet there is a nagging sense that the Steelers are stuck in neutral. They would have won the division title last week by beating the last-place Cleveland Browns. Instead, the Steelers lost 13-6 and are inexplicably 0-4-1 in their previous five games against teams with a record of eight games below .500 or worse.
Regardless of the outcome on Sunday night, the Steelers will have won either nine or 10 games in each of the last five regular seasons. While that is certainly admirable, it also doesn’t meet the standard – to use one of Tomlin’s favorite words -- for a franchise that considers itself among the NFL’s elite.
The Steelers also haven’t won a playoff game since beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round following the 2016 season. The Steelers then got smoked by the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, marking the beginning of Pittsburgh’s current six-game postseason losing streak.
Are the Steelers considering hiring a new coach in 2026? The answer is apparently yes after The Athletic’s Dianna Russini wrote on Saturday that the Steelers vetted Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman as a potential successor to Tomlin. Freeman, though, has decided to stay in the college ranks after having his contract restructured.
If the Steelers and Tomlin move on, the franchise would need to replace a coach who seems destined for the Hall of Fame, like his predecessors, Noll and Bill Cowher. Those would be large shoes to fill.
On the other hand, the Steelers and Tomlin seem to have gotten stale. Both sides might benefit from a fresh start.
Whatever ends up happening, Sunday night could be the end of an era for the Steelers.