Bart Scott is on record believing Aaron Rodgers can lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a playoff win. But if the team falls short of that mark for another season, Mike Tomlin’s seat should become warm. Monday, Scott suggested the organization parting with Tomlin may be the best outcome if 2025 ends like all other recent seasons.
“Mike Tomlin’s been there 18 years,” Scott said on ESPN’s Get Up. “He hasn’t won a playoff game in eight seasons and it’s getting stale. You talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers, we think about continuity and consistency. You think about Bill Cowher being there for, I believe what, 15 seasons. Chuck Noll being there for 23 and [Tomlin’s] been there 18. Sometimes. you just need a change. It could be good for both sides if this season doesn’t go well.”
Under Tomlin, the Steelers started hot. Pittsburgh won its sixth and most recent Super Bowl in his second season and returned to the big game two years later. Four years into his coaching tenure and Tomlin sported an impressive 5-2 playoff record. Everything since has been sour. Since 2011, Pittsburgh is just 3-9 in the postseason under Tomlin and losers of the team’s last six tries.
For the first time in his tenure, Tomlin isn’t automatically beloved by the national media. He’s now under the microscope with prominent insiders like NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero floating the idea Tomlin is “year to year,” though his explanation felt faulty. Still, Tomlin is no longer a universally accepted top-five head coach whose perception is viewed through the team’s lack of recent success and not the Super Bowl Tomlin earned early in his career. While Scott is suggesting change, a playoff victory will hush all that talk. Including his own.
“You add a player like Aaron Rodgers, you have a shot,” he said. “I think a playoff win kind of makes Tomlin secure.”
Winning a Wild Card game isn’t Pittsburgh’s ultimate goal but it would take a weight off the organization’s shoulders. The line of “haven’t won a playoff game in years” goes away and would become tangible proof of season progression. It would sell the Steelers’ case of why they continue to push to win now and would take them out of neutral, the football purgatory they’ve found themselves in.
