With Omar Khan sitting a few feet away, Art Rooney II said he and Khan would head a critically important process the Pittsburgh Steelers undertake once every couple decades or so.

Hiring a new head coach.

“Omar and I will lead the search,” Rooney, the Steelers president, said during a news conference at Acrisure Stadium on Wednesday. “And we’ll rely on others in the organization to help as we go forward. So I look forward to getting started with the search and starting with the next chapter of Steelers football.”

Rooney declined to put a timeframe on the search but acknowledged the obvious — that by the time the NFL combine gets underway in late February a new coach would be in place.

The situation came to a forefront late Tuesday morning when Rooney and Mike Tomlin had a “15- or 20-minute” conversation in which Tomlin informed Rooney he was stepping down after 19 seasons as coach.

“It was an emotional day for everybody in our organization yesterday,” Rooney said. “Mike’s been a great leader of our franchise now for 19 years and led us with toughness, and integrity, and he always reflected the values of our organization.”

Tomlin joined Chuck Noll (1969-91) and Bill Cowher (1992-2006) as the only coaches the Steelers have had since the AFL/NFL merger. The Steelers have been among the most successful NFL franchises on whole over that span, but Rooney said the Steelers are not going to box themselves in to following the same pattern they used in choosing Noll, Cowher and Tomlin.

Each was in his 30s and had never been a head coach at any level before.

“I think there are a lot of things that go into being a successful head coach,” Rooney said of characteristics he will seek. “No. 1, really, in my mind is leadership and really trusting that this person can stand up in front of your team day-in and day-out, hold their attention, and have them motivated to do what they do. That’s the most important.”

Here is video from Rooney addressing the media Wednesday:

Follow TribLive’s Chris Adamski for updates on Rooney and the Steelers.