Mike Tomlin, the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, may be nearing the end of his run in Pittsburgh, and one Steelers legend thinks it might be time.
Former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who played his entire 18-year career with the Steelers, suggested on the Tuesday, December 2 episode of his “Footbahlin’” podcast that a divorce might be best for both sides.
“It’s been talked around here a lot. Maybe it is time to clean the house,” he suggested. “Maybe it is, and I like Coach Tomlin. I have a lot of respect for Coach Tomlin, but maybe it’s best for him too.”
Roethlisberger, 43, even suggested a possible landing spot for his former coach at one of the most prestigious programs in college football.
“Maybe a fresh start for him is what is best,” he continued. “Whether that is in the pros. Go be Penn State’s head coach. Do you know what he would do at Penn State? He would probably go win National Championships because he is a great recruiter.”
Roethlisberger’s former teammate, James Harrison, was a little harsher, saying he never considered Tomlin, 53, to be a “great coach.”
“I have never been a person that thought Coach Tomlin was a great coach,” Harrison said on the Monday, December 1 episode of his “Deebo and Joe” podcast. “I thought he was a good [coach]. … A good coach gets you to play to your potential. And right now, the players we have on that team I have seen play, they’re not playing up to their potential. A great coach gets you to play to your potential.”
Tomlin has been the Steelers head coach since 2007 and has never had a losing season. In just his second year, he coached Pittsburgh to its most recent Super Bowl win, defeating the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.
The 2025 Steelers are 6-6 on the season and have lost three of their last four, including a 26-7 defeat against the Buffalo Bills at home on Sunday, November 30. Pittsburgh fans booed their team as it left the field.
“In general, I agree with them, from this perspective: Football is our game, we’re in a sport entertainment business,” Tomlin told the media about the boos on Tuesday, December 2. “And so if you root for the Steelers, entertaining them is winning. And so when you’re not winning, it’s not entertaining.”
“If you’ve been in this business, you understand that, and so I respect it,” he added. “I share frustrations, I understand what makes this thing go, and winning is what makes this thing go.”
Tomlin also owned up to his team’s undisciplined play. In the loss to Buffalo, the Steelers were hit with five penalties that cost them 67 yards.
“I own the responsibility of making sure that these guys understand a component of being a tough team to beat is not beating ourselves,” he said. “We had some penalties and certainly you’re going to have penalties when you play. But penalties of the 15-yard variety, loss of composure and things of that nature hadn’t been us. And so that needs to be corrected immediately.”
