Mike Tomlin’s Long-Term Steelers Future Isn’t Certain originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Over the past few years, questions have swirled about whether the Pittsburgh Steelers would ever move on – or maybe consider a trade – for head coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin is set for his 19th season as the Steelers’ head coach, and the franchise reportedly shut down the Chicago Bears’ attempt to strike a deal this offseason.
As for Tomlin’s contract situation, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero mentioned it’s a “year-to-year” situation during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. When Eisen asked Pelissero to clarify, Pelissero said it’s really uncharted territory.
“My belief is Mike Tomlin will be the head coach of the Steelers for as long as he wants to be,” Pelissero said. “But he’s entering his 19th year. There is not a lot of precedent in the modern NFL – Bill Belichick aside – for somebody going on 20 years with one team. It just doesn’t happen.”
But …
“Mike Tomlin, we all know, has never had a losing season in Pittsburgh,” the reporter continued. “He has a lot of influence over all aspects of the organization personnel. Look no further than Aaron Rodgers, who Mike Tomlin stumped for from the start …”
The Steelers finally landed Rodgers in June, 70 days after his initial meeting with the team. It was a massive get for the Steelers, if Rodgers chose to go elsewhere or retire, the quarterback situation with the Steelers would have been dire.
Rodgers will likely be here for just one season. And his coach?
Pelissero explained, “Every year, we have a story of some team reaching out on Mike Tomlin, ‘Could you end up trading for him?’ Every year, there’s some level of rumblings about, could Mike Tomlin decide to do something else? Could he go into broadcasting? There’s a lot of different things that he could choose to do. …”
The Steelers have long held a reputation for continuity. But with the current situation, results will be paramount.
“The results influence everything here,” Pelissero said. “Mike Tomlin’s own wishes influence things. I don’t foresee – and nothing about the history of the Rooney family would indicate that they would fire Mike Tomlin. I talked with Art Rooney about this last summer. What he said was, my standard is as long as the locker room is still listening to the coach and we believe in the coach, there’s no reason to make a change.@
Still …
If Tomlin doesn’t have success moving forward with the Steelers? Or what if he’s the one who wants a change?
“When the calls keep coming on Mike Tomlin and when you’re coming up on 20 years as a head coach, it’s only natural that at sometime, everything is going to come to an end.” Pelissero said. “Mike Tomlin will be the one in all likelihood to choose when that comes. We’ll see how this season goes and I’m sure we’ll be talking about the future again in December.”
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 15, 2025, where it first appeared.