For the first time in his 17-year career coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s valid to wonder if Mike Tomlin will be with the team in 2024. Sure, there’s always been a vocal minority calling for change, that happens in every town, but the conversation has gone mainstream.
Three weeks ago, the national media would’ve shot down any notion of Tomlin not returning. Four weeks ago, they would’ve thrown you in the looney bin for such a suggestion. Now, it’s a fair talking point. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio believes not only is it a valid discussion, it’s more likely to occur than not.
On his latest episode of Pro Football Talk, Florio told co-host Myles Simmons things are trending toward a Tomlin exit. And not via a firing.
“Fifty years of following football, I’ve lived in and around Pittsburgh. I always kind of have a sense of where the wind’s blowing. And for the first time since Mike Tomlin became the head coach, I feel like the wind is blowing toward a separation,” Florio said. “And I think it will be Tomlin leaving, not the Steelers firing him.”
The reporting that exists around Tomlin’s standing with the team, the things beyond speculation, point to him returning. But that was before the Steelers suffered another loss, their third straight, to the Indianapolis Colts Saturday, dropping them to 7-7 on the season, the AFC’s 10th seed, and last place in the division. Pittsburgh is collapsing down the stretch and in serious danger of missing out on the playoffs for the second straight year. It would extend Pittsburgh’s playoff win drought to seven consecutive years, its longest streak of the post-merger era.
Florio floats all the ways Tomlin could leave. If it’s on his own accord, it’d most likely come via a trade and the two go through the usual list of candidates. Washington, Carolina, the New York Jets, though it’s all speculation and means little coming from anyone not named Jay Glazer, especially someone who loves conjuring up as many trade possibilities as airtime will allow like Florio.
The main point is that Tomlin is not guaranteed to return in 2024. While there’s rightfully plenty of focus on that element, how would he leave, where he would go, it ignores the other side of the equation. Who does Pittsburgh replace him with? A conversation for its own article but it would be the first time in this new era of football and social media, that the Steelers would hire a new coach. Put it this way. The last time Pittsburgh hired a head coach, the iPhone didn’t exist.
“It’s just at the point after all these years,” Florio said. “Change for the sake of change when you’re talking about football team and the same message and we’re doing the same things and we’re not getting the results we want. At some point, I think change is what you need.”
Personally, the odds still suggest Tomlin will return in 2024 and be given one last chance to make things work. Pittsburgh isn’t likely to blow the team up even if the season ends in total collapse. The Steelers are as patient as anyone, it’s their blessing and their curse, and the team will likely make other changes (personnel and assistant coaches) before doing something with Tomlin.
Of course, as Florio suggests, if Tomlin wants out, it’s a different story. But there’s nothing to suggest he does. The only link you could offer is his children are out of school, his two sons in college with a daughter attending Georgia next year, making the logistics easier to pack up and leave the place they’ve spent the last 17 years. Beyond that, Tomlin hasn’t made any references to wanting to start somewhere new. If anything, he’s the guy to embrace the challenge of righting the ship and making this situation work.
Catch the whole segment below.
