Throughout NFL history, few teams have had quite as many highs as the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers are tied for the most Super Bowls in NFL history with six and have played in a record-setting sixteen conference championships.
Recently though, the Steelers have fallen on hard times, by their standards. Pittsburgh hasn’t been to the AFC Championship since 2016 when they lost 36-17 to the New England Patriots.
2016 also marked Pittsburgh’s last playoff victory, as the team has made it back four times since and has bowed out in either the Wild Card or Divisional Round all four times.
Historically, the Steelers have operated in such a fashion that if the head coach is providing results, ownership will stand back and let them do their thing. Since the start of the 1969 season, the Steelers have had just three coaches: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. Each of the three won at least one Super Bowl with the team, and each has won at least 100 career games.
On Monday, via ESPN, Steelers owner and team president Art Rooney II discussed the state of the team and how he’d like to start seeing some postseason results again, sooner rather than later, but still expressed his support of Tomlin.
“We’ve had enough of this. It’s time to get some wins; it’s time to take these next steps. The players still respond to Mike, and that’s No. 1,” Rooney said. “He still has the key characteristics that we saw when we hired him. He can keep the attention of a group of 20-year-olds for a whole season and keep them in the fight for the whole way. So, still feel good about Mike. Obviously if I didn’t, [we] would make a change, but if we didn’t think Mike was able to lead us to a championship, he wouldn’t be here, and that’s why he is here.”
Tomlin, who signed a three-year extension with the team before the 2021 season, is in the final year of his contract and while an extension is expected, Rooney’s comments will certainly be remembered throughout the season.
[ESPN]
