It’s rare for a head coach who hasn’t won a playoff game in years to receive a contract extension. It’s also rare for a franchise to have just three head coaches in more than 50 years. Both are the case with Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers, extending him through 2027 in a three-year deal announced Monday. For analyst and former scout John Middlekauff, that signals that the Rooneys are fine with playing it safe and making their money.
“The Steelers don’t bottom out,” Middlekauff said on the 3 & Out podcast Thursday. “Mike Tomlin just refuses to lose less than eight games every year for the last basically six, seven years. Nine, 10 wins. But you know you’re gonna be one-and-done in the playoffs.
“And I think the Rooneys are acknowledging, ‘We’re cool with that. We want no part of ever being what the New York Giants have become or what Carolina was last year. We don’t want to be in that business. We’re fine with making boatloads of money.'”
Tomlin, as you may have heard, has never had a losing season since being hired in 2007. Even in years where that felt inevitable — the 0-4 start in 2013, losing Ben Roethlisberger six quarters into 2019, the 2-6 start in 2022 and the team’s three-game losing streak last year — Pittsburgh found a way time and time again.
But Tomlin, as you also may have heard, hasn’t had playoff success. No postseason wins since 2016, including being one-and-done to the Buffalo Bills in last year’s Wild Card game. It’s a sore spot on his resume, Tomlin now having an 8-10 playoff record, and one creating angst and urgency inside that organization.
To an extent, Middlekauff’s point is accurate. Pittsburgh has a 50-year reputation as a competitive, respectable franchise that is never thought of as one of football’s worst teams. One that sees plenty of primetime airtime as a big national draw. Tomlin provides that stability, that high floor. But the Steelers are a franchise that puts trophies in cases and their ceiling must be raised. The Rooneys aren’t chasing only money, Art II is one of the “poorest” owners in the NFL. And even he showed frustration over the team’s repeated playoff failures.
To get further than they have, the Steelers will need to find a quarterback as stable and steady as their head coach.
