This much should be pretty obvious by now, but the Rooney family and the decision makers at the top of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organizational chart love Mike Tomlin. Even after seven seasons with no playoff wins and four first-round exits, Tomlin received a three-year contract extension that ties him with the team through the 2027 season. The length of the extension is pretty telling of their belief in him as a head coach.
They could have easily gone with a shorter deal to gauge the trajectory of the team after a couple seasons. Both Tomlin and Art Rooney II made it clear after the first-round playoff loss that they intended to continue doing business together. Here were some of Rooney’s words following the extension via the team’s website.
“Mike Tomlin’s leadership and commitment to the Steelers have been pivotal to our success during his first 17 years as head coach”, Rooney said. “Extending his contract for three more years reflects our confidence in his ability to guide the team back to winning playoff games and championships, while continuing our tradition of success.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo talked about this via 93.7 The Fan’s The Joe Starkey Show on Friday. Starkey asserted that the latest extension proves Mike Tomlin is a Steeler for life, and that when he leaves, it will be on his own terms.
“I agree with you,” Fittipaldo said. “That was signaled when they gave him the three-year extension. Basically a four-year contract, rather than going one to two years…As long as Mike Tomlin is motivated to be this team’s football coach, I think the Rooney family will have him. You never hear a bad word—on the record or off the record—coming from that front office when it comes to Mike Tomlin. Not once.”
Say what you want about the non-losing season streak that Tomlin holds, it provides a great floor of competitive play for the franchise. Their last meaningless football game was all the way back in 2012. More importantly, his message has not grown stale in the locker room. The vast majority who play for Tomlin have nothing but great things to say about him. Even when things get rough—like the three-game losing streak last December—Tomlin remains consistent and keeps his players focused on the end goal of qualifying for the playoffs and working toward a championship.
T.J. Watt credited Tomlin for the turnaround last season, praising his never-too-high, never-too-low demeanor and his ability to speak to the team in the meeting room. You can’t really put a stat or a number on the value of belief within a locker room, but Tomlin provides that intangible benefit to the team. Watt even said that a large part of his contract extension was making sure Tomlin would be his coach for the duration of his deal.
This will be a big season for Tomlin and the way that he is viewed for the remainder of his new contract. In almost every way, the team appears to be in a better position than the 2023 group. He can quiet a lot of the negative narratives if he manages to get the team its first playoff win since the 2016 season.
