After a first-round blowout against the Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin stepped down. But he’s not leaving for another team; after nineteen seasons in Pittsburgh, Tomlin is looking to step away from coaching overall. The Steelers have been middling for years, but under Tomlin, they never had a losing season. With the Steelers’ generally good record and tendency to keep coaches for decades, the competition to take over from Tomlin is tough.
They look to fill the spot from outside the program, as they did with Tomlin, instead of their previous tactic of promoting from inside the organization. The Pittsburgh head coach position is unique and especially steeped in tradition; they’ve only had three coaches since Chuck Noll in 1969. They look for coaches who will exemplify the team culture, with a defensive mindset.
But while the Steelers may hope to continue with their trend of long coaching tenures, the league seems to be heading in the opposite direction. Coaches are tending to stay at teams for fewer seasons than in the past, especially when the team isn’t in playoff contention. In a more conservative franchise like the Steelers, the new head coach will have to decide whether to modernize or to continue with tradition. While Art Rooney II, the owner of the Steelers, jokes that he hopes to have another Chuck Noll or Bill Cowher, it’s clear that he expects the Steelers power model to remain.
The interviewees have been various defensive coordinators from teams, including the Rams and Vikings. The Steelers have to look to rebuild quickly as they prepare for the next season. With question marks at the quarterback position and a defensive line that might be getting too expensive, there’s a long way to go. Whether the Steelers hold onto the next coach for decades, or they follow the league into having shorter tenures, they might be facing losing seasons before they can truly contend again.
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