Steelers Now
Despite speculation, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter highly doubts that Mike Tomlin won’t be the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach in 2026.
According to a report by Schefter, Tomlin’s contract extension with the team, a three-year deal he signed in 2024, is actually a two-year deal with an option for the 2027 season. The Steelers will have to make a decision about whether to pick up that option this March.
“[Tomlin’s] got one year left on his contract, and there’s a feeling, for many that he will fulfill what he started,” Schefter said on SportsCenter on Sunday. “He’s the longest-tenured head coach in the National Football League — 19 years. The fans in Pittsburgh were calling for his firing about a month ago. Yet, he is on the verge of winning a division, and the feeling is that he’ll be back in Pittsburgh for at least another year, though there will be conversations that occur.”
Earlier this week, Schefter also floated the idea that Tomlin or John Harbaugh could take a TV job if they lose Sunday night’s win-or-go-home Week 18 game. Both coaches have received significant heat this season and in recent years, as expectations have not been reached.
“They will have a big say,” Schefter said of both Tomlin and Harbaugh’s futures. “One of them may go in there and say, ‘It’s been a great run. Might be time to go try something else.’ Whether that’s TV or another job somewhere else, like, those things are possible. They’re within the realm of possibility for the wide range of outcomes after Week 18.”
Latest intel on the coaches who stay and the coaches who go: pic.twitter.com/uG2evNVsBW
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 4, 2026
The Steelers are doing some due diligence in case head coach Mike Tomlin decides to step down after the 2025 season, according to multiple national reports.
Two potential candidates for the Steelers have been identified, with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated and Diana Russini of The Athletic both reporting this week that the Steelers have been connected to both Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula. You can safely bet that if two such names were explored, there were more on that list.
Former Steelers free safety Ryan Clark has been on record that it might be best for Tomlin to have a change of scenery. He thinks Tomlin is still a great coach and is unfireable, but his message seems to have gone stale in Pittsburgh. He wants Tomlin to go to a new franchise and have his “Andy Reid moment.”
Clark believes a mutual parting of ways from Tomlin and the Steelers after 19 years is on the horizon.
“Mutual parting of ways after they lose to the Ravens this weekend,” Clark said on ESPN’s First Take. “The Rooney/Mara family, because of that, Mike Tomlin’s now the new head coach of the New York Giants. You wanna make a splash. You want to get the...
