Mike Tomlin stepping down as Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach

Mike Tomlin informed the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday that he will step down as head coach, the team announced.

The Steelers were eliminated from the playoffs in a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans on Monday, Tomlin’s seventh straight postseason defeat dating to 2016.

“This organization has been a huge part of my life for many years, and it has been an absolute honor to lead this team,” Tomlin said in a statement, thanking the team’s owners for their support.

He added: “I want to also thank Steelers Nation. Your passion, loyalty, and high expectations represent what makes this franchise truly special. Coaching in Pittsburgh is unlike anywhere else, and I will always take great pride in having been a steward of this team.”

Team president Art Rooney II said in a statement: “Obviously, I am extremely grateful to Mike for all the hard work, dedication and success we have shared over the last 19 years. It is hard for me to put into words the level of respect and appreciation I have for Coach Tomlin.”

Pittsburgh hired Tomlin in 2007, and he entered the 2025 NFL season as the longest-tenured head coach not only in the league, but in all of North American professional sports. In his 19 seasons leading the Steelers, Tomlin never finished with a losing record.

After he won a Super Bowl in his second season, playoff success has eluded Tomlin. He has a 5-11 record in his last 16 postseason games, and Pittsburgh has not made it past the AFC championship game since the 2010 season.

The Steelers made a splash when they hired Tomlin, who at the time was only 34 years old. Tomlin, who his coaching career in college, was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive backs coach from 2001 to 2005 and then spent one year as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator in 2006.

Tomlin succeeded the legendary Bill Cowher as Pittsburgh’s head coach and managed to exceed the accomplishments of his predecessor. Tomlin is tied with Chuck Noll for the most wins in Steelers history, and his .628 winning percentage is the best in franchise history. Tomlin and Cowher each won a Super Bowl and lost another during their tenures.

The paragon of stability in the NFL, Pittsburgh will now look for only its fourth head coach since 1969. The Steelers will almost certainly have a major decision to make at quarterback this offseason, as Aaron Rodgers said last year that this season would most likely be his final one.

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Tomlin is the second AFC North coach with a storied résumé to part ways with his team this month. John Harbaugh, who was the second-longest-tenured coach in the NFL and Tomlin’s rival with the Baltimore Ravens, was fired after a loss to Pittsburgh in the final game of the regular season.

Following the defeat to the Texans, Tomlin acknowledged the frustrations of Steelers fans who will now have gone at least a decade between playoff wins.

“When you don’t get it done, words are cheap,” Tomlin said at his postgame news conference “It’s about what you do or you don’t do. And so I appreciate the question, but people talk too much in our business. You either do or you don’t.”

Though Tomlin ultimately decided to step away, he did get a vote of confidence from Rodgers.

“Mike T. has had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years,” Rodgers said Monday night. “And more than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change, but there’s a lot of pressure that comes from the outside, and obviously that sways decisions from time to time. But it’s not how I would do things and not how the league used to be.”