Mike Tomlin Steps Down As Steelers Head Coach - Pittsburgh Can Finally Catch Up With The Modern NFL

After 19 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin has stepped down as the franchise's head coach. For an organisation with the most stability in the NFL, given it has only had three head coaches since 1969, the Steelers now face an uncomfortable situation as they look to find a new head coach, and likely a new quarterback, as well as new faces at each coordinator position. But this is an exciting time for Steelers fans, as the team can finally abandon a philosophy that has failed them over recent years, and catch up with the modern day NFL.

The Steelers need to find a new head coach. They will be looking to invest in a young football mind, and rightly so. The last three head coaches of this team were all in their 30s when hired, with Tomlin and Bill Cowher joining at 34, and Chuck Noll being hired at 37. Pittsburgh's search has already begun and the reported interview requests would suggest that they are going down the route of a younger coach again. Of the eight candidates the Steelers have either interviewed or will interview, all are under the age of 50, with three under the age of 40.

So it seems as if Art Rooney II and Omar Khan are looking to go young with their head coach, but will they go for a more offensive or defensive minded coach? Well, six of the candidates that have interviewed, or been requested to interview, are defensive minded coaches, following the trend of Noll, Cowher and Tomlin, who all came from defensive backgrounds. The two offensive minds Pittsburgh is looking towards are Nathan Scheelhaase, the Los Angeles Rams' passing game coordinator, and Klay Kubiak, the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator. Pittsburgh is caught in a situation where they need to choose between tradition, which has brought them a record six Super Bowl titles, and the modern NFL. The tradition for the Steelers has been defensive football. The Steel Curtain of the 1970s won four Lombardi trophies, Cohwer's defensive unit was a huge part of the Super Bowl win, and Tomlin's 2008/09 winning team was one of the best statistical defenses of the decade.

However, times have changed in the NFL. While defense is certainly still important in winning titles, just look at the 2023/24 Kansas City Chiefs, there is a trend of offense winning championships in recent times. Super Bowl LIII was the last time a defensive head coach won a Super Bowl, with Bill Belichick lifting the Lombardi Trophy. In fact, from that Super Bowl onwards, Belichick is the only defensive head coach to appear in the big game until this year, where we are yet to see who makes it. The fact is, the NFL has changed. To succeed, teams usually need either a complex offensive scheme, or a superstar quarterback. The Steelers aren't anywhere near a superstar quarterback, so what they need is a creative offensive scheme, something they never had under Tomlin's offensive coordinators.

Of course, it's not impossible to have success with a defensive head coach. Mike Macdonald is a defensive mastermind and has lead the Seahawks to hosting the NFC Championship game. But he is also a young head coach with a young, talented offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak. So, if the Steelers do go for a defensive head coach, such as Chris Shula, they need a plan to bring in a modern-day offensive coordinator, such as Nathan Scheelhaase, to ensure this team finally catches up with the modern day NFL offense.

Pittsburgh has been playing catch up in the NFL for over a decade now. The offensive talent of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell was able to hide a lot of problems for a scheme that was being caught up by modern day NFL defenses. As the offensive talent either aged or left the team, the Steelers turned back to a defensive philosophy, something that cannot be solely relied upon in the NFL nowadays.

Rooney II and Khan will likely go defense with their head coach given the list of candidates. However, unless the coach is young and therefore clued up with modern day schemes, and is also able to bring in a young offensive coordinator from the McVay/Shanahan tree or another successful coaching tree from the past few years, this team will continue to face failure. Pittsburgh finally has an opportunity to catch up with the modern day NFL, they cannot squander it.