For the first time since 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new head coach. Mike Tomlin made the decision on Tuesday to step away from the organization that he's coached for 19 seasons and now people are asking themselves what's next for Tomlin.
Considering the success that Tomlin had with the Steelers (at least when it comes to winning games and being competitive), it would make sense for teams to be interested in him if he wants to continue coaching. That doesn't appear to be the case, however, at least not according to Steelers President Art Rooney II.
"Mike [Tomlin] indicated that he did not anticipate coaching in the future, wanted to spend time with his family. Right now [coaching again] doesn't seem to be on his radar," Rooney said.
Art Rooney II suggests Mike Tomlin's next chapter won’t include coaching
This isn't much of a surprise when you really break it down. Tomlin coached the same team for 19 years and didn't have any playoff success in recent years. It'd make sense that he'd want to take some time away from coaching and the stress that brings with it.
This doesn't mean that Tomlin is done coaching for good though. Rooney even said that Tomlin doesn't plan to coach again "right now" but, as we all know, things can change in a hurry. It wouldn't be too crazy to see him step away from everything for maybe a year and then get into TV (or get into TV next season) and then decide he wants to get back into coaching again (similar to what happened with Sean Payton).
Yes, right now, Tomlin is done with coaching but a lot can change between now and a year from now. Maybe Tomlin finds that he enjoys not having to coach anymore and stays away from it. We won't know how that saga unfolds until it does.
It'll be weird not seeing Tomlin on the sideline for the Steelers in 2026 and beyond but a change needed to be made. For the Steelers to be good again, they might need to experience being bad for a few years, something that hasn't happened to this franchise for a very long time.
Or, maybe they absolutely nail it with whoever they bring in to lead the team next and then he's the next head coach of this team for nearly two decades. That does appear to be the Steeler way, after all.
For now though, don't expect to see Coach Tomlin on the sideline for any other team.