PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin has a message for any team considering inquiring with the Steelers about his availability in a potential trade.
“Save your time,” the head coach said Tuesday in his season-ending news conference.
After the Steelers’ fifth consecutive one-and-done trip to the playoffs, Tomlin’s job status and future with the organization has been a hot topic of debate and source of consternation among fans. Tomlin, who signed a three-year extension last offseason and just completed his 18th season at the helm, said he understands their frustration.
“I understand the nature of what it is that we do, the attention and criticism that comes with it,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I embrace it, to be quite honest with you. I enjoy the urgency that comes with what I do and what we do.
“I don’t make excuses for failure. I own it, but I also feel like I’m capable and so as long as I’m afforded an opportunity to do that, I will continue, but I certainly understand their frustrations and probably more importantly than that, I share it because that’s how I’m wired.”
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Tomlin expressed his disappointment with the way the season ended throughout his final news conference, but he admitted that the five-game slide to end the season, capped with a 28-14 wild-card loss to the Ravens was “football justice.”
“I don’t view it as misfortune, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. “Particularly at this level in this business and game, there’s football justice. You get what you deserve, and so we are here and we’re here for really tangible reasons. We didn’t involve in the right ways. We didn’t strike the right chords at the right time, particularly down the stretch.”
Tomlin said there would be “changes” in the organization, but he didn’t detail specifics, saying the postseason debrief was in its infancy. He met with his players as a group Monday and also began individual exit meetings. He also met with owner Art Rooney II and general manager Omar Khan.
“Certainly, there’s change that comes when we don’t have the desired outcome, and so those are just the realities of the business,” Tomlin said. “I would imagine there’s going to be some things that change around here on a lot of levels, but that’s this game as I’ve mentioned, and so I understand that. I’m open to that really just beginning the processes of some of the decision-making that has to transpire.”
Among the potential changes is the makeup of the quarterback room. Both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are on expiring contracts, and the team signed quarterback Skylar Thompson on Tuesday afternoon, Thompson’s agency announced on social media. Thompson, selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft, appeared in 10 games for Miami with three starts over two seasons and had one touchdown and three interceptions.
Wilson said Monday “the plan” is to be in Pittsburgh in 2025, but he later admitted he hasn’t met with the Steelers yet to begin those discussions.
Tomlin said he believes both Wilson and Fields can help the Steelers take the next step in getting to where the organization wants to go.
“Just their professionalism, approach to business, their relationship with the game was an encouragement in that regard,” Tomlin said explaining his belief.
Tomlin also said he had belief in Fields, who went 4-2 in six starts to open the season, to be a 17-game starter if Wilson ultimately opts to depart in free agency.
“I thought that the way that he managed his professional circumstance was really impressive,” Tomlin said. “I thought he brought an urgency to his day-to-day work regardless of his role. I thought he got continually better within our system of ball throughout the process. I thought the way he conducted himself makes that a legitimate thought or idea at this juncture.”
And though he said he doesn’t believe the organization is stuck despite six playoff losses in eight years, Tomlin also didn’t go out of his way to offer hope and optimism about the future.
“I’m certainly disappointed that I’m not working to prepare to play this week,” he said. “And I’ve certainly felt that in recent years, but stuck is kind of a helpless feeling, and I don’t know that I feel helpless.”
He added: “I don’t know that I’m ready to be overly optimistic or sell optimism to you either. I’m just acknowledging what transpired and what has to happen and what is beginning to happen and acknowledging the complexity and the amount of work that’s ahead of us. Certainly feel capable, but definitely don’t feel in the mood for optimism or the selling of optimism. I don’t know that that’s appropriate. It is disappointing not to be working and so that’s where we are.”
