Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has made a stunning decision.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs on Monday night, and afterward, Mike Tomlin's future in Pittsburgh was hanging in the balance.
Well, Tomlin's future has now ultimately been decided.
Tomlin has stepped down as Steelers head coach, via ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. It marks the end of Tomlin's illustrious 19-year tenure in Pittsburgh, highlighted by a Super Bowl victory back during the 2008-09 campaign.
The 53-year-old originally took the job back in 2007 and went 193-114-2 with the Steelers, leading the team to eight AFC North division titles, 13 playoff appearances and a pair of trips to the Super Bowl. He also never posted a losing season.
However, toward the end of Tomlin's tenure in Steel City, it had become patently obvious that things were becoming stale.
The last time Tomlin won a playoff game was in January 2017, with the Steelers suffering through a bunch of disappointing postseason defeats afterward.
Questions about Tomlin's job security have persisted for the last several years, even though Pittsburgh has made the playoffs five times over the last six seasons.
No one will ever doubt Tomlin's ability as a head coach, but sometimes, after an extended period of time with one franchise, things can kind of just go horizontal, and that's exactly what seemed to happen with Tomlin in Pittsburgh.
Now, whether or not Tomlin is actually stepping down is the question here. Perhaps the Steelers wanted to part ways with the long-time head coach, but had him announce he was departing in order for Tomlin to save face.
That is a common practice organizations employ for long-tenured head coaches.
Or maybe Tomlin really did just want to move on?
After all, the Baltimore Ravens had no qualms about firing John Harbaugh, who had spent 18 years with the club. Like Tomlin, he also won a single Super Bowl with the Steelers' AFC North rivals.
It remains to be seen what Tomlin will do now. Will he take a year off from coaching? Will he head elsewhere? Or is he done coaching period?
We'll find out in the coming weeks, but this is certainly a jarring decision on the part of Tomlin.