Pittsburgh Steelers part ways with head coach Mike Tomlin after 19 seasons | Pittsburgh Steelers

Head coach Mike Tomlin is leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers after 19 seasons, the team confirmed Tuesday.

“Obviously, I am extremely grateful to Mike for all of the hard work, dedication and success we have shared over the past 19 years. It is difficult for me to put into words the level of respect and appreciation I have for Coach Tomlin,” Steelers President Art Rooney II said in a statement. “He guided the franchise to our sixth Super Bowl championship and made the playoffs 13 times during his tenure, including winning the AFC North eight times during his career.”

Rooney added that the decision ultimately came down to Tomlin, saying the head coach had “decided to step aside.”

Tomlin issued his own statement shortly after. “I am deeply grateful to Art Rooney II and the late Ambassador [Dan] Rooney for their trust and support,” Tomlin said. “I am also grateful to the players who gave everything they had every day, and to the coaches and staff whose commitment and dedication made this journey so meaningful.”

The 53-year-old leaves the Steelers without recording a losing season during his long tenure with the team, but Pittsburgh’s loss to the Houston Texans on Monday night extended a playoff losing streak, and there were scattered chants of “Fire Tomlin'” from the home crowd. Tomlin’s Steelers last won a playoff game during the 2016 season.

However, he still seemed to have the support of the locker room. After Monday’s loss, several players went out of their way to express their confidence in Tomlin.

“Mike T has had more success than anyone in the league over the last 19 or 20 years,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “And more than that, 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 outside, and obviously that influences decisions from time to time. But that’s not how I would do things and that’s not how the league used to be.”

During his nearly two decades at the helm of the team, Tomlin compiled 193 regular season victories, a total that places him ninth all-time in NFL history and tied with another legendary Steelers head coach, Chuck Noll. He won the Super Bowl in February 2009 in his second season with the Steelers and reached the title game again two years later, but lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Although he led his team to the playoffs consistently thereafter, they rarely looked like true Super Bowl contenders and Pittsburgh now hopes his replacement, who will be only the team’s fourth head coach since 1969, will revitalize the franchise.

The first thing the new head coach will need to address is the quarterback. The Steelers haven’t had a high-quality starter since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. The team’s starter last season was Rodgers, and while he did an adequate job in 2025, he is 42 years old and has hinted he could retire in the coming weeks.

Tomlin’s Steelers contract ran through the end of 2027, and the team could be eligible for compensation if he joined another team before then.

“Even though this chapter is coming to an end, my respect and love for the Pittsburgh Steelers will never change,” Tomlin said in his statement. “I am excited about what the future holds for this organization and will always be grateful for my time coaching in Pittsburgh.”

In other coaching moves Tuesday, Kevin Patullo, who angered much of Eagles fans as the team failed to defend its Super Bowl title, was fired as Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator. The Los Angeles Chargers responded to their playoff exit by firing offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin. The Chargers’ offense was ineffective in their playoff loss to the New England Patriots and the offensive line struggled heavily with injuries during the season and failed to protect quarterback Justin Herbert.