With the shock of Mike Tomlin stepping down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers still setting in, the question already has to be asked: Who's going to replace him?
The Steelers are now on the hunt for just the 4th head coach of the franchise since 1969. There are huge shoes to fill after the legendary Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. All three of those coaches are Hall of Famers (Tomlin's day will undoubtedly come), and all of them are Super Bowl champions.
Pittsburgh has such a rich tradition and history as a franchise, so the next coach to take up the mantle is going to be under a lot of pressure. And there might be one extremely obvious candidate to do the job: Brian Flores.
Brian Flores could be the most obvious candidate to be the next Steelers head coach
It would not be a surprise if Brian Flores, who was in Pittsburgh in 2022, gets a real look by the #Steelers.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 13, 2026
“That makes too much sense,” a high-level executive just told me. https://t.co/AsJAnS6Q8o pic.twitter.com/y9oaTF5nkq
The Pittsburgh Steelers already have a history with Brian Flores, who came onto Mike Tomlin's coaching staff back in 2022 after he was unceremoniously fired by the Miami Dolphins. After spending a year as Pittsburgh's linebackers coach (and senior defensive assistant), he was hired by Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings as their new defensive coordinator.
And he has thrived in that role.
The Minnesota defense jumped from 28th in points allowed in 2022 all the way up to 13th in 2023 when Flores took the helm. They jumped up to 5th in points allowed in 2024 and 7th in 2025. That defense has been elite since he took over, and he's been getting a bunch of looks as a potential head coach with other teams already this offseason.
But you would have to think the chance to be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers would carry a different weight for someone like Flores. He was part of one of the most historic franchises in the NFL, spending 2004-2018 with the New England Patriots' dynasty.
It would be fitting if his next job as an NFL head coach came in Pittsburgh, where he would have a chance to truly build his legacy.
Flores won't be the only strong candidate to replace Tomlin, but the Steelers couldn't really ask for someone better at this point. Flores knows a lot of the personnel, he has relationships with the organization, and he could breathe some new life into the franchise.
There's some irony in the fact that when Mike Tomlin was hired by the Steelers, he was hired after spending a year (2006) as the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. History has a funny way of repeating itself in the NFL.