The Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach, Mike Tomlin, announced his resignation because
The head coach of the Steelers, Mike Tomlin, leaves the post-game news conference after being questioned about his contract.
After the Steelers lost to the Bills 31–17 in a wild-card game, Mike Tomlin quickly departed the stage when a reporter in Pittsburgh’s postgame news conference asked him, “Mike, you have a year left on your contract.”
Before opening things up to the media, the 51-year-old started his time on the platform by thanking his opponent for a valiant victory, looking at what Pittsburgh did to score 21 early points against Buffalo, and providing injury reports.
He answered questions about the performance of quarterback Mason Rudolph, Buffalo’s tight end usage, T.J. Watt’s absence, Pittsburgh’s turnovers, and the team’s incapacity to generate a run game.
Unfortunately, it turned out that the contract matter was a bridge too far.
Tomlin’s contract expires after the 2024 season, and there have been rumors recently that he may leave the team one year early.
Although there was no question that he would need some time to come to terms with yet another playoff defeat before offering an unambiguous assessment of the future, such a brazen departure is by no means a guarantee he will play for an 18th season.
In his illustrious head coaching career to date, Tomlin has amassed a 173-100-2 record, made two visits to the Super Bowl (winning one), and made eleven postseason appearances.
In spite of a rather turbulent 2023 season, he also set a new NFL record with 17 straight winning seasons to begin a career.
The way the Black and Gold lost on Monday is a microcosm of the resiliency Tomlin and his teams have shown while he has been their manager.
The Steelers slid into a 21-0 deficit that persisted into the first half’s two-minute warning while they were without their captain, Watt.
But the Steelers rallied, and with 1:43 left in the game, Rudolph hit Diontae Johnson for a 10-yard touchdown. Over the following 21 minutes, the Steelers outscored the Bills, 17-3, to tie the game at one score at the 10-minute point in the fourth quarter.
Buffalo pulled away once more to eliminate Pittsburgh, even though they put on a strong fight. Pittsburgh just began their comeback a little too late.
The defeat put an end to Pittsburgh’s unsatisfactory season, which also saw the team fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada, choose to ride the hot hand of Rudolph over second-year first-round pick Kenny Pickett, and suffer two straight late-season losses to teams that had two wins at the time—the Cardinals and Patriots.
But for the tenth time in Tomlin’s career, the regular season also featured a postseason trip and double-digit victories.
“Without Mike T, every guy wouldn’t be anything,” stated 34-year-old defensive tackle Cameron Heyward of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who is unsure of his own future.
“Without Mike T., this team could not even hope to qualify for the playoffs. He holds everyone of us responsible. I want to play for no other coach but mine.”
Refusing to stay at a press conference does not necessarily signal that Tomlin will leave the team.
But if he does, it would only be the third hiccup in Pittsburgh’s remarkable history of consistent coaching since 1969.
In the last 54 years, the Steelers have only had three coaches—Bill Cowher, Chuck Noll, and Jim Tomlin—but they have six Lombardi Trophies to their name.
Such a move would rock the current coaching cycle, particularly during a time when Hall of Fame coaches like Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick have both had their long-term contracts terminated.
For what it’s worth, Heyward said he thought the only NFL head coach he had ever known would return when asked about both his and Tomlin’s future.
Heyward remarked, “I’m one year older.” “This game shows you that the average age is three years. Every time, I’ve prevailed. However, making it to the playoffs was impressive given that the team had suffered some injuries during the season.
We fought each other all year. Since I think Mike T. will return, I don’t really pay attention to what the coaching situation is all about. However, that is not my choice. I will not vouch for him. I just know that this team is capable of winning the Super Bowl as a whole.”
