There was a somber mood around the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, January 13, when head coach Mike Tomlin told his team he was stepping down. Even the stoic Aaron Rodgers broke down in tears, according to The Athletic.
Steelers beat writer Mike DeFabo spoke with players, coaches and staff members around the team about that emotional meeting, reporting that Rodgers, 42, “through sobs, mustered a two-word message to deliver to his coach: ‘I’m sorry,’ several players heard him say. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’”
That’s in line with what Rodgers told the media publicly prior to Tomlin, 53, making his decision. After the Steelers’ 30-6 playoff loss to the Houston Texans on Monday, January 12, the Steelers quarterback defended his coach after another year of coming up short.
“Mike T’s had more success than damn-near anybody in the league for the last 19-20 years,” he told reporters. “More than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change.”
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Tomlin took over as Steelers head coach in 2007 and enjoyed immediate success, taking Pittsburgh to the playoffs in his first year and winning the Super Bowl his second season. The Steelers finished .500 or better every season under Tomlin, winning the AFC North eight times along the way, but the franchise never returned to the NFL mountaintop.
With Pittsburgh winless in the playoffs since 2016, Tomlin (not to mention some vocal Steelers fans) felt like it was time for a change.
“In the business of the NFL, there’s consequences for not doing your job,” he told his team, according to The Athletic. “As a professional in this business, you have to live with those consequences. Some of us will be here next year; some of us won’t.”
Tomlin continued, “Guys, I want you to hear this from me firs.I just met with Art Rooney and [general manager] Omar [Khan]. I think it’s best for the organization for me to step down.”
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“It felt like a funeral,” a staff member reportedly said. “I teared up. It’s like finding out your dad died.”
One player told The Athletic indicated he was surprised by Tomlin’s decision.
“You’re going to make me cry again,” he said, recalling the meeting. “I felt that the meeting was going to go completely different. When he said, ‘Some of us will be here and some of us won’t, that’s when I was like, ‘Is this guy really stepping down?’”
With the offseason now underway in Pittsburgh, Rodgers must now decide his plans for next season. At 42 and no longer under contract, he could simply retire. He could also wait and see who the Steelers hire to replace Tomlin and decide if he wants to run it back in Pittsburgh or try his hand elsewhere.
As for Tomlin, other NFL teams will surely be interested in his services. If he doesn’t want to coach, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports TV networks will be lining up to add him to their broadcast team. Marchand says Fox would be the favorite to land Tomlin, but ESPN, NBC, CBS and Prime Video are also candidates.
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