Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers saw their NFL Playoff game against the Buffalo Bills slated for Sunday rescheduled for Monday due to severe weather issues in New York.
We’ll now have to wait a bit more to find out whether this will be the all-time great’s final game as the Steelers’ head coach.
Rumors have persisted heading into the playoffs that Tomlin — now the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach — could step away in 2024.
We now have a new report on this courtesy of Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio indicating that Tomlin plans on talking with his family after the season ends and making a decision.
“This year is a unique position for Mike Tomlin. For the first time ever, he’s entering the last year of his contract,” Florio reported. “I am told he’s going to step back after the season, make a decision about his future with his family. He loves the team. He loves the young players that they have there. But after the season, he’ll huddle with his family and make a decision about his future.”
This past regular season might have been Tomlin’s best coaching since he took over for Bill Cowher in 2007. Pittsburgh posted a 10-7 record despite firing its offensive coordinator and dealing with a plethora of drama. That doesn’t even take into account a perceived lack of all-around talent.
But at some point, things come to an end. We saw that with Bill Belichick’s depature from the New England Patriots after 24 years earlier this week. The Seattle Seahawks moving on from Pete Carroll after 14 season is another recent case study.
Related: Mike Tomlin trade rumors heating up
Mike Tomlin coaching record: 173-100-2, .633 winning percentage
The Super Bowl-winning head coach has joined other Steelers greats in leading the team to a tremendous amount of success. With that said, Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since back in 2016.
Unlike Belichick and Carroll, a potential depature from Pittsburgh would likely be more about stepping away from the game for a season or two.
Even then, there are now a number of possibilities for Tomlin should he look for other opportunities. There are currently seven open head coach positions around the NFL with a couple more potentially opening up within the next couple weeks. He’ll have a decision to make. That’s for sure.
For now, it’s all about Monday’s road date with the Bills.