James Saxon won't be back next season, and members of the Steelers are reportedly extremely upset about it.

With the firing of Saxon — who is a well-respected coach — NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala is saying that the players are “dumbfounded and mad” about Tomlin's choice.

In a statement posted to the Steelers' official website, head coach Mike Tomlin announced that he wouldn't be bringing back the now-former running back coach.

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“I have made the decision to not renew the contract for running backs coach James Saxon. We would like to thank James for his efforts over the past five years, and we wish him the best in his future coaching endeavors.”

To be fair, too, Tomlin predicted that fans — and players — would see a lot of “changes” in the team after the Steelers failed to make the playoffs this year.

The first “change” came in the form of Tomlin giving the boot to outside linebackers coach Joey Porter. This firing came as no shock, as there had been reports that Porter was trying to “divide the locker room.” Porter's 2017 arrest right before a Steelers game didn't help his case any, either.

Saxon had a lot of success with All-Pro running backs Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson in Kansas City, prior to coming to the Steelers. While the Steelers didn't exactly have a banner year this year, there's no question that James Saxon was responsible for some of their better performances. It should be interesting to see, then, who is hired in Saxon's place.