Steelers captains go to bat for Mike Tomlin, who reportedly says he plans to return
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Since he first walked into the Pittsburgh Steelers facility as a raw defensive lineman from Ohio State in 2011, Cameron Heyward has played for only one head coach.
As he heads into an offseason of uncertainty a few months short of age 35, Heyward can’t envision starting over with a newcomer.
Heyward believes Mike Tomlin should be the Steelers’ coach in 2024. He expects Tomlin to be the Steelers’ coach in 2024.
On Tuesday, a day after the Steelers extended their drought without a playoff victory to seven seasons with a wild-card loss at Buffalo, Heyward delivered an impassioned plea for Tomlin to return for an 18th season.
“My thought is he’s going to be the coach here,” Heyward said as players cleaned out their lockers in preparation for the offseason. “If anybody’s thinking it’s going to be anybody else, you’re asking for a whole lot more than just that.
“Mike T wants to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. He is a Pittsburgh Steeler. Why would anybody ask for anything else?”
Tomlin’s future has come into question because his contract was not extended last offseason, and he’ll enter 2024 in the final year of his deal. Given the recent lack of playoff success, and speculation fueled by national media members, Tomlin could ask for a fresh start elsewhere — much like Bill Belichick did in New England.
It would be moot, though, if Tomlin and team president Art Rooney II agree to an extension that would erase any doubt about Tomlin’s future.
T.J. Watt says Steelers will “have to take a long, hard look” at themselves to reverse their trend of early playoff exits. pic.twitter.com/JGkJsDhlv5
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) January 16, 2024
Like Heyward, fellow defensive captain T.J. Watt doesn’t want to see a coaching change.
“I want to play for Mike T,” he said. “That was huge in my contract talks (in 2021). I don’t want to play for anybody other than Mike T. You guys understand and see the way I talk about how much I respect and appreciate him as a coach, as a man and as a leader.
“That’s my endorsement for him.”
At his postgame news conference falling the Steelers’ 31-17 loss Monday at Buffalo, Tomlin walked off the dais when a question was posed about his future. Tomlin will have a chance to address it when he holds his year-end meeting with the media.
When he met with his players Tuesday, Tomlin said reports of his leaving the Steelers are “unfounded,” according to NFL Network. Watt didn’t get the sense from Tomlin’s message that he was going somewhere else.
“There’s nothing groundbreaking,” he said. “The season just ended yesterday. It’s appreciating the work we all put together and saying this group of guys won’t be together again in totality.”
In a team meeting today, Mike Tomlin told #Steelers players the speculation about him stepping away is unfounded and he plans on coaching the team in 2024, sources say.
Tomlin, who is entering the final year of his contract, is expected to address the media later this week. pic.twitter.com/GwBax5Dei4
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 16, 2024
Heyward got a head start stumping for Tomlin’s return.
“Why are we so concerned with somebody who has a year on his contract, has been locked in and has wanted to just coach football?” he said. “We don’t ask anybody else if they need to come back for another year or anything else. I think it’s doing him a disservice. This guy has been locked in from the get-go, but yet we’re worried about if he’s coming back or not. … I don’t think it’s fair to him.”
Running back Najee Harris indicated after the loss that discipline was lacking on the Steelers this season. Heyward, though, hasn’t seen any indication of Tomlin being more lenient with his players. He also doesn’t see a coach whose desire is to walk away from an NFL head coaching job he has held for 17 years.
“I just think it’s the consistency with him,” Heyward said. “When all this other stuff has been brought up, it’s a consistency that he doesn’t have to change up how he’s going to act because of what else is going on. It has allowed him to stay narrowly focused and focused on us.”
Second-year running back Jaylen Warren, a former undrafted free agent, has seen his career flourish under Tomlin.
“That’s all I know,” he said. “He’s a great head coach. I’d like to play for him the rest of my career. The way he goes about his business and takes care of us, I’ve heard in other places that’s not the case sometimes. I don’t want to find that out.”