The Pittsburgh Steelers pride themselves on hiring legendary head coaches. Since the merger, the franchise has only hired three: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. Each of them went on to lead the Steelers to Super Bowl success. Now the latest Steelers HC is finally stepping down.
After 19 seasons, Coach Tomlin elected to relieve himself of his coaching duties on Tuesday. Tomlin leaves the team with a career record of 193-114-2 while never having a losing season as head coach. Unfortunately, with the 30-6 Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans, the Steelers continued a nine-year drought without a playoff win.
Now the Steelers must do something they haven't in nearly two decades: find a new head coach. And the pattern of what to look for is already crystal clear.
The Pittsburgh Steelers historically desire two things in a head coach
From what we know about Art Rooney II and the Rooney family, the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to want to handle business the way they always have, and straying far from the norm at head coach doesn't feel like it's in the cards. This franchise has always valued two traits in its head coach search: youth and a defensive-minded presence.
Let's start with the youth. When Mike Tomlin was hired to be the Steelers' head coach in 2007, he was just 34 years old. Likewise, Bill Cowher was 34 when he accepted Pittsburgh's HC job in 1992. Even the two coaches before Cowher and Tomlin (who were each hired in the 1960s) were young. Chuck Noll and Bill Austin were both 37 years old at the time they received their head coaching job with the Steelers.
That's only one side of the coin. The other is how much this franchise values defense.
Pittsburgh's last three head coaching hires since 1969 have all been defensive-minded coaches. Noll was a defensive back coach for the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Colts in the '60s before earning the Steelers' head coaching job. Likewise, Cowher was a three-year defensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs, while Tomlin was a one-year DC of the Minnesota Vikings before landing with the Steelers.
While Bill Austin, who was hired in 1966, doesn't fit this description (he was an offensive-minded coach), he latest only three years as the Steelers' head coach. This is all the more reason Art Rooney II could stick with what's been working since the merger.
In short, the Pittsburgh Steelers are likely eyeing a young, defensive-minded candidate as their next head coach (maybe one in their mid-to-late 30s with some DC experience).
If this holds true, it greatly narrows the search and will exclude offensive minds like Klint Kubiak, Mike McDaniel, and Brian Daboll. Some of the names at the top of the list could be Rams DC Chris Shula (39), Chargers DC Jesse Minter (42), Vikings DC Brian Flores (44)—three coaches the Steelers are already slated to meet with.
If ownership is willing to ignore the lack of professional coaching experience, perhaps they could go with a young, defensive-minded college coach like Marcus Freeman. The Notre Dame HC is just 40 years old and has led his team to tremendous success over the past four years.
We don't know exactly who the Steelers' next head coach will be, but we know precisely what to look for.