Mike Tomlin is already the NFL's longest-tenured coach with the same team. Now, that tenure will be even longer. This despite the fact the once-mighty Pittsburgh Steelers haven't been out of the first round of the playoffs since in nearly a decade (or 2016, to be exact).
Either way, Tomlin received a three-year extension, the team announced Monday. Before that, he was entering the final season of a three-year extension signed in 2021.
"Mike Tomlin's leadership and commitment to the Steelers have been pivotal to our success during his first 17 years as head coach," Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. "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."
Tomlin does finish with winning seasons quite often, and the fact the Steelers can't win big in the postseason is hardly his fault. The roster has been pretty lame in recent seasons. He's actually made mountains out of mush.
The Steelers probably stuck with former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger too long and haven't been able to replace him since. They are now acting like a Russell Wilson at the end of the road can save them.
It seems doubtful, but hey, worth a shot. Nobody else has been able to do it.
"The extension comes after a tumultuous season that saw a slew of rumors about Tomlin's future in Pittsburgh amid a puzzling late-season, three-game losing streak followed by a rebound winning streak and a playoff berth with 2022 first-round quarterback Kenny Pickett benched for longtime backup Mason Rudolph," wrote Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "Those rumors, including the possibility that Tomlin could take a year off from coaching, intensified when he declined to answer a question about his future, walking off the podium to unceremoniously end his news conference after a wild-card loss to the Buffalo Bills in the midst of the question."
