When the Pittsburgh Steelers started the season 4-1, things looked good for Mike Tomlin, Aaron Rodgers, and Co. But now, after a 2-5 stretch since then, even former players are itching to see a change made at head coach.
After Pittsburgh's 26-7 home loss to the Buffalo Bills, who had lost two of their last three, both Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison said it might be best for everyone involved if Tomlin and the Steelers parted ways.
When asked about their comments, Cameron Heyward, a longtime former teammate of Harrison and Roethlisberger, decided not to directly address them.
“I don't worry about anybody who's not in the locker room,” Heyward said, via ESPN's Brooke Pryor. “It's not a diss at them. I think we just got to worry about the guys in here and focus at the job at hand.”
Tomlin has been the Steelers' head coach since 2007, when he succeeded Bill Cowher, and led Pittsburgh to a 10-6 record. The following season, his second as head coach, Tomlin and the Steelers went 12-4 and won Super Bowl XLIII, making Tomlin then the youngest Super Bowl-winning head coach in history.
The Steelers returned to the Super Bowl two years later, losing to the Green Bay Packers, and have not been back since. Despite this, Pittsburgh has not suffered a losing season under Tomlin.
To outsiders, the streak of 21 consecutive non-losing seasons has been an impressive show of organizational stability, but to Steelers fans, the lack of postseason success — they have not won a playoff game in nine years — has overshadowed their regular-season consistency. And even players like Roethlisberger and Harrison, who flourished during Tomlin's tenure, have grown tired of just staying afloat.
Roethlisberger suggested that a “fresh start” might be best for Tomlin, whom he threw out as an option to be Penn State's next head coach.
“It’s being talked about around here a lot,” Roethlisberger said on his ‘Footbahlin' podcast. “Maybe it’s ‘clean house’ time. Maybe it is. … And I like Coach Tomlin. I have a lot of respect for Coach Tomlin, but maybe it’s best for him, too.”
Harrison was a little more blunt in his call for action and criticism of Tomlin, whom he said he doesn't think is a ‘great' coach, just a good one.
“Something has to be done,” Harrison said. “I know the Steelers historically don’t move on from coaches, but I think it’s time that history be made.”
In 19 years as Steelers head coach, Tomlin is 189-113-2 in the regular season and 8-11 in the postseason.
