Steelers Now
The seasons have come and gone since 2017, but the results for Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin have remained largely the same. That doesn’t mean team president Art Rooney II was open to Chicago’s efforts in trading for the Super Bowl-winning sideline boss.
According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the Bears were one of two franchises to kick the tires on Tomlin’s availability. After having its advances denied, Chicago went with now-former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who brought along former Steelers wideout Antwaan Randle El as his assistant head coach/receivers coach.
“It really didn’t go very far,” Rooney told KDKA’s Bob Pompeani of the discussion with the Bears regarding Mike Tomlin. “We weren’t interested in really pursuing it, and so it was a pretty short conversation.”
Rooney’s comments were in line with Schefter’s report that the Steelers were sticking with their longtime leader. The last time an acting head coach was involved in a swap was in 2006 when the New York Jets sent Herm Edwards to Kansas City.
“He’s staying,” Schefter said of Tomlin’s status on the Pat McAfee Show last week. “He’s not going anywhere. The Bears got shut down.”
Mike Tomlin has gone 183-107-2 while in charge in Pittsburgh. His .630 winning percentage is the best of any Steelers coach all-time. Kansas City’s Andy Reid (273) is the only active head coach with more career victories than Tomlin.
“The bottom line is you don’t win as many games in this league as Mike Tomlin has had,” Rooney said. “He’s a good coach.”
Tomlin needs 11 wins to pass Chuck Noll for the most regular-season wins in the team’s history. Noll, however, has double Tomlin’s eight postseason wins.
