With the head coaching market slowly starting to take shape, the Pittsburgh Steelers' options to replace Mike Tomlin are dwindling. Just like we can follow the team's interest in their pre-draft visits, we've been able to track the Steelers' head coaching interview requests... and their top choice couldn't be more obvious.
Chris Shula has been arguably the top name in connection with the Steelers from the beginning. Now there's even more reason to believe that he will be the HC candidate they go with.
The Steelers' initial interview list included top-market names like Jeff Hafley and Jesse Minter. Since announcing their first round of interview requests, Hafley has signed as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, while Minter is expected to land in the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens.
While we can't rule out Brian Flores—who checks the boxes the Steelers look for—or even a re-tread HC like Mike McCarthy, there are overwhelming reasons to believe Shula is becoming the crystal clear choice for Pittsburgh.
All signs point to Chris Shula as the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers
Not only was Shula one of the first reported visits by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Rams' defensive coordinator is reportedly the 'leader of the clubhouse' to be the Steelers' next head coach, according to Aditi Kinkhabwala on 93.7 The Fan.
Not only this, but multiple betting outlets now have Shula as the odds-on favorite to land the Steelers' head coaching job.
It's not hard to see why, and we saw the writing on the walls from the start.
In addition to a strong family lineage of coaches—which the Pittsburgh Steelers value—Shula checks all of the boxes this franchise has looked for historically in a head coach. Shula is young (39), he's a defensive-minded coach, and he's never been a head coach before.
Shula shares these three traits in common with the great Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin when they were initially hired by the Steelers.
The same cannot be said for Brian Flores (who was the head coach of the Dolphins from 2019 to 2021) and Mike McCarthy (who has served as a head coach in the NFL for nearly two decades).
The Pittsburgh Steelers could always throw a curveball at fans by going with a hire out of the norm. However, it's easy to follow the breadcrumbs as to what this team is looking for, and Chris Shula's connection as Mike Tomlin's successor feels painfully obvious.