Steelers insider expects next coach to fit Mike Tomlin mold

The Pittsburgh Steelers could look very different when the 2026 NFL season kicks off this fall. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down after 19 seasons leading the team. Now Pittsburgh is rushing to find his replacement as they join eight other NFL teams searching for a new leader.

Steelers insider Gerry Dulac shared his thoughts on the team’s upcoming head coaching search during a recent interview.

Dulac believes that Pittsburgh may end up looking for a coach that fits the Tomlin mold for their next hire.

“Well you know there history of hiring head coaches has been pretty good and they haven’t had to do it in a while. 19 years, when you look at the last three hires, all young defensive minded coaches. I would expect the same to happen despite the way we see the NFL being played these days. I would imagine they will follow the same template,” Dulac said on Wednesday, via The Dan Patrick Show. “I think they’ll move quickly, they’re not going to do it by the end of the week but I would imagine that’s the direction they’re going to go.”

The Steelers have only had three head coaches dating back to the year 1969. Those include Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher before Tomlin.

That is an incredible streak of stability for one of the league’s most iconic franchises.

Pittsburgh is finally starting to catch up with their head coaching search. Not every names fits the Tomlin mold, but Dulac’s theory does seem to be coming true for the most part.

The Steelers kicked off their search by requesting to interview Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. Los Angeles is gearing up for a playoff matchup against Chicago, so the actual interview itself will have to wait.

Pittsburgh requested an interview with Viking defensive coordinator Brian Flores on Wednesday. They also requested to interview Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.

Flores is an interesting name because he has a history in Pittsburgh. He was a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach during the 2022 season.

It will be interesting to see which other coaches the Steelers request to interview.

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