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brooke prior
PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin has stepped down. pittsburgh steelers As head coach, he ended a 19-year streak during which he never suffered a losing season.
Tomlin, 53, is not expected to coach elsewhere in 2026, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Steelers announced Tomlin’s decision Tuesday afternoon, saying his track record “will likely never be repeated.”
Tomlin said in a statement that he decided to step down “after much consideration.”
“This organization has been a big part of my life for many years, and it is an extreme honor to lead this team,” he said. “I am extremely grateful to Art Rooney II and the late Ambassador Rooney for their trust and support. I am also grateful to the players who gave their all every day, and to the coaches and staff whose commitment and dedication made this journey so worthwhile.
“I also want to thank Steelers Nation. Your passion, loyalty and high expectations make this franchise truly special. Coaching in Pittsburgh is unlike anywhere else, and I will always be very proud to be the manager of this team.”
Tomlin, who has two years remaining on his contract, informed Steelers players of his decision in a 2 p.m. ET meeting on Tuesday, a day after Pittsburgh was eliminated from the playoffs with a 30-6 loss. texans In the AFC wild-card round.
“During our meeting today, Coach Tomlin informed me that he has decided to step down as our head coach,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “Obviously, I am extremely grateful to Mike for all the hard work, dedication and success we have shared over the last 19 years.”
Tomlin left Pittsburgh with the unprecedented accomplishment of never having a losing season in nearly two decades at the helm of the franchise. He earned his 200th career NFL win in Week 16 against lions and tied for ninth with 193 regular season wins in the Week 18 win against Chuck Noll crows Which won the AFC North title.
With Tomlin’s departure, the Steelers will begin searching for their fourth head coach since 1969. Tomlin signed an extension in 2024 that could have kept him with the team through the 2027 season, including a club option with a decision date of March 1, 2026.
Because Tomlin resigned while still under contract, the Steelers will retain his coaching rights and can negotiate compensation if he returns to the NFL sideline before the end of the 2027 season.
“While this chapter is closing, my respect and love for the Pittsburgh Steelers will never change,” Tomlin said in his statement. “I’m excited about what the future holds for this organization, and I will always be grateful for my time coaching in Pittsburgh.”
Before his resignation, Tomlin was the longest-tenured head coach of any North American professional sports franchise.
“It is difficult for me to put into words the level of respect and admiration I have for Coach Tomlin,” Rooney said in a statement. “He led the franchise to our sixth Super Bowl championship and made the playoffs 13 times during his tenure, including winning the AFC North eight times in his career. His track record of never having a losing season in 19 years will likely never be repeated.
“I and my family, and everyone associated with Steelers management, are forever grateful for the passion and dedication Mike Tomlin has brought to Steelers football.”
Despite all of his accomplishments, Tomlin ended his historic tenure in Pittsburgh with a disappointing nine-win postseason. Despite winning one Super Bowl, two conference championships, and seven division titles, Tomlin’s teams went 8–12 overall in postseason play. Their last win of the postseason was an 18–16 win against kansas city chiefs In 2016.
The Steelers followed that win over the Chiefs with a 36-17 loss. new England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, their last conference title game appearance. Since then, the Steelers have gone one-to-one in six postseason contests, and their last three wild-card losses have been 131–58 losses.
Tomlin’s final game in Pittsburgh ended in a riot as fans again chanted for the coach to be fired because he and aaron rodgers walked off the field, descended the ground-level stairs and disappeared into the tunnel after 11 p.m.
“Words are cheap when you don’t get it done,” Tomlin said Monday night, responding to a question about his message to fans after the game. “It’s about what you do or don’t do. And so, I appreciate the question, but in our business people talk too much. You either do or you don’t.”
In his postgame news conference Monday night, Tomlin gave little assurance that he would return to the Steelers, which was a departure from his message after the loss at the end of last season. However, the players supported their head coach after the loss, including Rodgers, who signed a one-year contract through May 2025.
“Mike T has had more success than anybody in the league over the last 19, 20 years,” Rodgers said. “And even more than that, though, when you have the right people and the culture is right, you don’t think about making changes, but there’s a lot of pressure coming from outside, and obviously that affects decisions from time to time.
“But that’s not how I would do things and not how the league used to be.”
longtime defensive captain cameron haywardDrafted at No. 31 overall by the Steelers in 2011, Tomlin also stumped for Tomlin in front of outside noise.
“I don’t really care about the noise because they don’t know what Mike T puts into it,” an emotional Hayward said, standing in the nearly empty locker room late Monday night. “They don’t know how he goes out of his way to prepare every guy. They don’t know about the countless nights that guy spends studying film. The only thing coaching will do is make the players play better. And in those key moments, the players will step up.”
Marked by improbable wins and tough losses, Tomlin’s final season was a microcosm of his nearly two-decade tenure in Pittsburgh.
After a non-traditional Steelers offseason that saw the high-profile acquisition of Rodgers, wide receiver DK Metcalf and cornerback Jalen RamseyPittsburgh began the 2025 season with a 4–1 start and a two-game lead in a division filled with significant injuries. but one disadvantage cincinnati bengals Week 7 marked a rocky start with a heavy loss los angeles chargers And buffalo bill and a disappointing victory over indianapolis colts.
Fans expressed their displeasure with Tomlin in the second half of the 26–7 loss to the Bills, as chants of “Fire Tomlin” filled Acrizar Stadium and the Steelers’ anthem “Renegade” was loudly drowned out by the Styx.
The Steelers recovered from a Week 13 loss against the Bills to win three in a row against the Ravens, Dolphins and Lions to avoid a losing season and put themselves in the divisional driver’s seat.
An unconventional appointment when he took over as head coach in 2007 after a one-year tenure. minnesota vikings‘Defensive coordinator, Tomlin found almost immediate success in Pittsburgh.
At the age of 36, he won Super Bowl XLIII in his second season and, at the time, was the youngest head coach to win the Lombardi Trophy. (Sean McVay was 36 years younger when his Rams won Super Bowl LVI in February 2022.) Tomlin returned to the Super Bowl a year later but lost to Rodgers. green Bay Packers. Tomlin never returned in his final 15 seasons as head coach.
Known for his tough defense and continuing the Steelers’ organizational tradition of a dominant run game, Tomlin struggled to find continuity at quarterback following the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger in 2022. Steelers drafted kenny pickett along with a 2022 first-round pick, but the Pitt product was traded after two seasons.
Including Roethlisberger’s final season as a starter, the Steelers have had five different Week 1 starting quarterbacks in the past five seasons.
With the loss to the Texans, Tomlin, who had gone 10–7 in each of his final three seasons, became the first head coach in franchise history to go nine consecutive seasons without a postseason victory. The nine seasons without a playoff win also marks a team’s longest winless streak in the postseason in the Super Bowl era. The Steelers also became the first team in NFL history to lose five consecutive playoff games by double digits.
