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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin resigned after 19 seasons, forcing the storied franchise into an NFL coaching carousel that at one point tied the record for the most head-coaching vacancies in a year. While it is still early in the Steelers coaching search, there is more insight into who could be a potential option.
According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is viewed as a serious contender to replace Tomlin as the Steelers head coach in 2026. However, he is not the only name who could be a top candidate for Pittsburgh.
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During an appearance this week on Fox Sports 1‘s “The Herd”, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shared that the Steelers “really like” Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
Shula has generated more head-coaching interest this offseason than Flores. The 39-year-old joined McVay’s staff in 2017 after serving as a defensive quality control coach for the Chargers. Shula worked his way up the Rams coaching staff, earning promotions from assistant linebackers coach (2017-18) and outside linebackers coach (2019-20) to linebackers coach (2021). He then served as the defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach (2022) and the pass rush coordinator and linebackers coach (2023) before taking over as defensive play-caller in 2024.
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The grandson of legendary NFL coach Don Shula, he has interviewed this offseason with the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins, and he recently met virtually with the Steelers.
As for Flores, he spent a year on the Steelers coaching staff under Tomlin in 2022 as the team linebackers coach and senior defensive assistant. Pittsburgh was the first NFL team to hire him after he filed a discrimination lawsuit against the league and three of its teams.
He joined Minnesota in 2023, taking over one of the league’s worst defenses. From 2023-25, the Vikings had one of the 10 best defenses in the NFL and performed at a top-five level in the last two years. Prior to his stints in Pittsburgh and Minnesota, Flores outperformed expectations as the Miami Dolphins head coach (19-14 record in final two seasons).
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