The Pittsburgh Steelers saw their postseason hopes fall by the wayside on Monday, losing a competitive Wild Card matchup against the Buffalo Bills. And reporters wasted no time to ask longtime Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin about his future with the team.
With the Patriots and Bill Belichick parting ways, that leaves Mike Tomlin as the longest-tenured head coach in the league in Pittsburgh, a tenure that dates all the way back to 2007.
In the 17 seasons that Tomlin has coached in Pittsburgh, the team has missed the postseason just six times. He has also yet to have a losing season with the Steelers, which is a credit to the culture he has built on this team.
However, with such a lengthy tenure comes questions on just how long he will stay with the organization. ESPN’s Brooke Pryor began to talk about how Tomlin has one year left on his contract.
Mike Tomlin walked off the podium when I started a question with “you have a year left on your contract.”
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 16, 2024
Immediately as she mentioned his contract, Tomlin walked off the podium, clearly upset with having to discuss this immediately after a playoff loss.
Mike Tomlin didn't want to deal with contract talk in his press conference after the Steelers lost to the Bills. 🏈😂pic.twitter.com/Qy7yyS58Kd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 16, 2024
Emotions were predictably running high immediately after the loss. But fans had mixed opinions on how he handled the question from Pryor.
The entitlement some reporters feel to be able to bring up inappropriate subjects and inappropriate times is mind blowing. Just because you have a press pass doesn’t give you permission to be an asshole. https://t.co/J8j3BNTWkc
— John Buechele (@swflskier18) January 16, 2024
Brooke did everyone a favor and asked a question that no one really wants to ask at a time like that.
I don’t expect fans to understand that, but she did the right thing regardless of how people (Tomlin included) feel about it. https://t.co/2Dj6AEbvPB
— Preston Byers (@PresByers) January 16, 2024
This is not the first time or the last time a coach/exec/player whose contract status has become a story has been asked about this at the end of their season.
It’s business as usual. It’s the job. And Brooke does it as well or better than most. https://t.co/gCUZXlkezC
— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) January 16, 2024
I’d walk away from the podium if you asked me a question too… https://t.co/PWoNNvM4Up
— Keaton (@kjonesy1587) January 16, 2024
He just lost a playoff game. Why would he even care to answer this???? #Steelers https://t.co/sxf64LtL6f
— 49ers & NFL News 24/7 (@49ersSportsTalk) January 16, 2024
It’s not like this is the first time a head coach has been asked about his future with the team after a loss, so you can certainly argue that this question is very fair from Pryor.
However, it is also reasonable for Tomlin to not want to answer this at the moment considering his team’s season just ended minutes before the question.
At some point, Tomlin will have to address his future. But for the time being, his future in Pittsburgh appears to be up in the air.
