Steelers have issues. Team president doesn’t think Mike Tomlin is one of them

Art Rooney II knows the Pittsburgh Steelers have problems.

The team’s longtime president doesn’t think his head coach is one of them.

Rooney said Monday the club remains fully behind Mike Tomlin, who is now closing in on a decade since his most recent playoff victory following another quick postseason exit.

Tomlin, the NFL‘s longest-tenured coach, signed an extension last summer that carries through the 2027 season. While admitting he’s frustrated about the team’s late fade that ended with a blowout loss to Baltimore in the first round, Rooney doesn’t see the dismal finish as proof that Tomlin has lost his touch in the locker room.

“Still think he (Mike) has the strengths that he always had in terms of being able to lead a team,” Rooney said, later adding, “When you have a good coach, you just try to keep building.”

Though Tomlin’s job is safe, Rooney hinted at potential changes to Tomlin’s staff and didn’t rule out moving on from coaches who are under contract for next season, a list that includes defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and offensive line coach Pat Meyer.

“That’s still the process we are going through,” Rooney said.

Yet Rooney also chafed at the idea that the team’s coaching staff is too small in an era when staff sizes are mushrooming across the league. The Steelers have 19 designated assistants, per the team’s website — below the league average — though Rooney disagreed with that number, saying it “depends on how you count.”

Either way, Rooney added “I just don’t see that holding us back” and pointed out the team has expanded its analytics department in recent years.

The pressing concern is quarterback, a position that’s been in constant flux since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement after the 2021 season. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields split snaps in 2024.

Both had moments of success but also struggled at times, with Wilson’s production dropping in lockstep with the team’s swoon.

Rooney called both players — who are pending free agents — “capable starters” and indicated his preference would be to keep one of them on a multi-year deal.

While Rooney didn’t specify which one, he did indicate age could play a factor in the decision-making. Wilson turned 36 in November. Fields, who went 4-2 while filling in for an injured Wilson early in the season, turns 25 in March.

“We’ve got a whole quarterback room to fill,” Rooney said. “There [are] jobs open in there.”

Rooney would like to see whoever fills them — and the Steelers did sign former Dolphins quarterback Skylar Thompson earlier this month — have a similar skill set, which wasn’t the case this season with Wilson and the more mobile Fields.

The Steelers could also look for a quarterback in the draft, where Pittsburgh has the 21st overall pick. Rooney downplayed the idea the team has learned some sort of lesson from former first-round pick Kenny Pickett’s ultimately unsuccessful two-year stint with the team in 2022 and 2023.

“We just have to look at the next opportunity and make sure we do a good job evaluating it,” Rooney said.

Pittsburgh has plenty of needs in other areas, including along the defensive line — where 35-year-old All-Pro Cam Heyward was largely the lone standout — and at wide receiver. George Pickens is among the most talented players in the league, but was also fined numerous times for on-the-field transgressions.

Rooney, like Tomlin, believes there is room for Pickens “to grow” and is optimistic Pickens can realize his potential. The team has not yet approached Pickens, who will enter the final year of his rookie deal in 2025, about an extension.

The same goes for Defensive Player of the Year finalist T.J. Watt, though Rooney said “we certainly hope we can have T.J. here for the future beyond this year.”

Watt stressed at the end of the season he wanted to be part of the solution in Pittsburgh as it tries to navigate its way out its longest postseason playoff drought — eight years and counting — since Franco Harris hauled in the “Immaculate Reception” more than five decades ago.

Rooney understands the discontent among the fan base, saying “my inbox is full” with a small laugh.

“We’ve got to really figure out how we get better and what we need to do to get better,” Rooney said. “Mike knows what the goal is here and what we’re shooting for. So he’s as disappointed as I am in the way it finished.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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