Behind the Steel Curtain
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for a weekly Steelers links roundup at BTSC. But first, let’s take a look around the AFC North:
Now, onto some Steelers news and discussion:
(From Yahoo Sports’ Jason Owens): “He did? Is that official?” Bisciotti asked when informed that Tomlin had stepped down.
Bisciotti was then asked (jokingly?) if Tomlin would be a candidate to replace longtime Ravens coach John Harbaugh, whom Bisciotti fired last week after a loss to Tomlin’s Steelers eliminated Baltimore from the playoffs and sent Pittsburgh into the postseason.
“Holy s***, wouldn’t that be awesome?” Bisciotti said.
The Ravens owner found out about Tomlin’s departure during a press conference, resulting in a very human reaction. He even squeezed in a John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin switching coaching jobs joke.
(From PennLive’s Nick Farabaugh): On Tuesday, Freiermuth opened up about the emotions he has pushed down all season. He prides himself on being a team player, but he admitted that his role this season has frustrated him.
“I would say that I am disappointed with the lack of opportunities I was given, but at the end of the day, I’m a team player, and I was proud of myself for not making it about myself,” Freiermuth said. “It’s always about the team and what we can do to win. I feel like I could have been in situations where I could help the team win more. But the longer I’m here, I would like to see myself involved more.”
Maximizing Freiermuth’s talents will be one of the biggest stories of 2026 under the Steelers’ new head coach. In the 2025 season, the talented tight end finished with his second-worst receiving yardage total with just 486 yards on 41 catches.
(From ESPN’s Brianna Williams): Current Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen, who previously played for the Baltimore Ravens, acknowledged the recent departure of both of his former head coaches. Offensive lineman Dylan Cook shared a heartfelt message for Tomlin, while Super Bowl XLIII teammates Ryan Clark and Rashard Mendenhall also offered their reflections.
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton was told about Tomlin’s departure during Tuesday’s practice and chimed in.
Tomlin parting ways with the Steelers was the most unexpected head coaching change of the season. As you could expect, reactions spread through the NFL media and former players like wildfire.
Where could Mike Tomlin coach next? Four teams that make sense --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...
