‘We’ve lost a really good coach’: Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh exit a loss of the Steelers’ rock

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin has stepped down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Even for Steelers fans who had been praying for this day — even for the fans who booed Tomlin after Monday night’s 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in the AFC Wild Card Round — Tuesday’s announcement was stunning.

This was the end of an era for a franchise filled with its share of golden eras. Each of the last three Steelers coaches left giant footprints: Chuck Noll spent 23 seasons as the Steelers head coach and won four Super Bowls. Bill Cowher took the torch from Noll and in 15 years played in two Super Bowls and won one. Tomlin, the Steelers first African American head coach, took the torch from Cowher, reached two Super Bowls, and won one. Tomlin added a twist by becoming the only Steelers coach to never have a losing season.

At the end of the day that was not enough to offset failing to win a playoff game since 2017. Being blown out at home by a young, robust Texans team did not help Tomlin’s cause. He effectively passed the torch to a young up-and-coming African American coach in DeMeco Ryans and a star quarterback in C.J. Stroud.

When Tomlin was hired as the Steelers 16th head coach in January 2007, Ryans was a 22-year-old second-year linebacker with the Texans. Stroud was a 6-year-old living in Southern California and was not yet involved in organized sports.

They all came full circle on Monday night with a suffocating defensive performance that convinced the Steelers ownership and front office that a team led by a 42-year-old quarterback and 19-year tenured head coach had run its course. The success of young coaches in Carolina, Jacksonville and Seattle did not help matters, either.

Nonetheless, Tomlin’s departure came as a surprise, even to those who were plugged into the Steelers pipeline.

“I was disappointed, because I feel like we’ve lost a really, really good coach and a guy who’s been a landmark guy there,” Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy told me during a phone conversation Tuesday evening.

“But at the end of the day, the guy coached 19 years, he had a great career won a Super Bowl took them to the playoffs many times and stayed in one organization for 19 years, so if you look at the totality of it, it was a great career. I’m disappointed but I’m happy that he’s going when he wants to go.”

During a phone conversation on Monday evening, Dungy said that he thought Tomlin would return. Currently an analyst with NBC, Dungy played with the Steelers and began his coaching career in Pittsburgh. Dungy told me that he had met with Art Rooney II, owner and president of the Steelers, the previous week and his sense was that the organization wanted Tomlin to stay.

“I spoke to Art Rooney at the Steelers offices, and I didn’t get that sense at all from him,” Dungy said. “He was excited about where they’re going, you know, typical Rooney family. I know the fans are frustrated, but that happens sometimes when you set that high bar.”

Dungy spent six seasons in Pittsburgh as a player and a coach under legendary head coach Chuck Noll. He was part of the Steelers’ 1978 team that won Super Bowl XIII. Dungy remembered when fans were calling for Noll’s head — and he won four Super Bowls.

“In my last two years in Pittsburgh, they were starting to get annoyed with Coach Noll, saying things like the game passed him by,” Dungy recalled. “It’s silly, but if you don’t go to the Super Bowl or get close to the Super Bowl, they think it’s a bad year. It’s just crazy.

“But when you talk to the people in the building and interview the players, and when you listen to Aaron Rodgers say, ‘Hey, this is why I came,’ and ‘This man’s a leader, and he’s unique,’ you understand that the players and the staff have a much different feeling than the general fan does.”

Apparently, the noise became too loud to ignore, probably even for Tomlin.

“I do think what might have worn him down is, if you’re walking around town and you’re there and all you hear is disgruntled fans and fire Tomlin and we don’t like him,” Dungy said. “Eventually that may get to you, but I don’t think it came from within the organization.”

Tomlin is a Pittsburgh institution, and the Steelers are not inclined to tear down institutions. For some that may seem like a romantic deal, especially in an environment where it’s become en vogue to tear down long-standing institutions.

The only institution the Rooney family endeavored to tear down was institutional racism, which is why the Rooney Rule was established. The rule was intended to allow aspiring minority head coaching and executive candidates to compete on a level playing field by requiring teams to interview a certain number of minority candidates before making a hire.

Tomlin became the model of how the system was supposed to work. The Steelers were all set to hire Ken Whisenhunt when someone suggested that the Rooneys interview Tomlin, who was a defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. Rooney wanted a young, energetic, defensive-minded, and tough communicator who was good with people.

“He was determined to turn over every stone to find what he was looking for,” Dungy said. “Someone told him that there’s this young, first-year defensive coordinator with the Vikings who fit the bill. After he talked to Mike, he called me afterwards and said ‘I want to talk to you about this guy. He blew us away.’ That was how the rule is supposed to work, and that’s how he assumed everybody would do it.”

Replacing Tomlin could reveal a lot about the Steelers’ continued commitment to the spirit of the Rooney Rule, which stresses not just hiring the best candidate but casting a wide net to find that candidate. There are currently three Black NFL head coaches: Ryans with Houston, Todd Bowles with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Aaron Glenn with the New York Jets.

One of the most qualified candidates to succeed Tomlin is Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who incidentally is suing the NFL for discrimination in its hiring practices.

Many NFL owners change coaches like a petulant child changes toys. The Cleveland Browns have had nine head coaches since Tomlin took over and are working on a 10th. The Las Vegas/Oakland Raiders and Washington Commanders have had nine; the Detroit Lions, New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars eight; the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets seven. One of the Steelers hallmarks has been stability.

In the midst of a brutal firing cycle, there was a lust for change — even in Pittsburgh. Steelers fans have been spoiled. There is no guarantee, in fact it’s unlikely, that the next head coach will stay double digit seasons with the team.

As for Tomlin, will he sit out the season or jump into another situation? Before news broke that Tomlin was stepping down, Dungy felt he was primed for another season.

Is he still?

“The question is does Mike still have the passion?” Dungy said. “Do you still want to do it when all the fan base and everybody and everything is negative around you? When I was around him last week, I got the sense that he was still enjoying it, and he was still relishing his role with the players and trying to win. So, I think he still has the passion.”

On Tuesday, the Steelers lost their Rock of Gibraltar head coach, and fans who wanted something new will finally get their wish. The franchise may not be so ecstatic.

The Steelers know, better than most, that new does not mean better.

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