As the Pittsburgh Steelers pivot from Mike Tomlin and into an era with a new head coach, don’t expect a total organizational “reset” to accompany it.
The Steelers are keeping their football operations staff intact, and they’re of no mind to strip things down in an effort to head into an era of the proverbial “R” word.
“Whether you call it a ‘rebuild’ or not, I don’t like that word that much,” team president Art Rooney II said during a news conference Wednesday.
Moments earlier, as he stood at a podium at Acrisure Stadium the day after Tomlin stepped down, Rooney reiterated an organizational philosophy that prioritizes and lauds being in contention every single season.
As proved by the team never having a losing season under Tomlin’s watch, he embodied that approach. Bank on Rooney seeking a similar vibe from whoever the Steelers hire as their fourth head coach since 1969.
“I’m not going to say, ‘Well, you know, we’re going to take a couple years to figure this out — and then we’ll try to compete,’” Rooney said while chuckling. “I think you try every year. Some years you have the horses to really get there, some years you don’t. But you try every year, in my view.”
That would mean that even if the Steelers trend to youth with their head coach, it won’t necessarily be in conjunction with a youth movement on their roster.
The Steelers entered the 2025 season with the second-oldest roster (on average) in the NFL. Their quarterback turned 42 last month — two years older than the average age of the first five reported candidates with which the Steelers have requested to interview: Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula and Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase.
That quintet ranges in age from 35 (Scheelhaase) to 45 (Weaver). That relative youth combined with that five are sitting defensive play-callers harkens back to traits carried by each of the past three Steelers’ head coach hires. Tomlin, Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll were in their 30s and hired away as other NFL teams’ defensive coordinators.
That two of those three have been inducted into the Hall of Fame and Tomlin is on a track to get there some day will not influence the Steelers into boxing themselves in to seek the same “type” for their next coach hire.
“For now, I don’t want to sort of put any real parameters around it,” Rooney said of the search. “We’re going to be an open book in terms of who we look for and the list that we build. Could I sign up for another Chuck Noll, or another Bill Cowher, or another Mike Tomlin? Sure. Somebody that we feel fits that mold would be great, but for now we’re not going to kind of narrow the box too much.”
Rooney said he and general manager Omar Khan will head the search “and will rely on others in the organization.” Rooney backed off assigning a timetable for the hire, other than to acknowledge it would need to be done before the NFL combine in late February.
The process assuredly will be over well in advance of that, even accounting for that the Steelers must adhere to a myriad of parameters concerning when interviews can be conducted with those on staffs of teams still alive in the playoffs, in addition to adhering to the “Rooney Rule” that states a team must interview at least two external minority candidates.
That process started in earnest Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Tomlin informed the team of his decision.
“There are a lot of things that go into being a successful head coach,” Rooney said. “No. 1, really, in my mind is leadership. Really trusting that this person can stand up in front of your team day-in and day-out and hold their attention and have them motivated to do what they do. That’s the most important.”
Art Rooney II, asked if the new coach will have say in personnel decisions pic.twitter.com/gbU9MU0X0s
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) January 14, 2026
Rooney said he did not expect anyone currently on the Steelers coaching staff to be a candidate for the head coaching job. That would eliminate offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, the former Atlanta Falcons head coach who interviewed with the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday.
The grandson of the team founder, Rooney formally joined the organization in the 1970s, and he has served as team president for 23 years. He was part of the inner circle that hired Cowher in 1992, former general manager Kevin Colbert in 2000, Tomlin in 2007 and Khan three years ago.
That Rooney’s son, Daniel “Danny” Rooney, joined Khan prominently sitting near the dais for Wednesday’s news conference was a fitting subtle signal that this might be the 73-year-old Rooney II’s final major hire for the Steelers.
“I think when you start a search, if I’ve learned anything, it’s to have an open mind,” Rooney II said. “When we had Mike in for his first interview, I certainly wasn’t expecting that he was going to be our next head coach.
“And so I think you go through the process and be diligent — and hopefully you come out with the right guy.”