The Pittsburgh Steelers need a head coach.
The right coach. Not someone who just looks like a good fit for the family photo.
No, that’s not a nepo-baby shot at Los Angeles’ Chris Shula.
Physically, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin look nothing like one another. But their coaching resumes sure did when they were hired.
All three were in their mid-30s. Noll was 37 when he was hired in 1969. Cowher (1992) and Tomlin (2007) were both 34 when they got the job.
All three were former NFL defensive coordinators. None of them had been a head coach before. They all won at least one Super Bowl and went to at least two. They all stayed at least 15 years. They all won at least 149 games.
Yup. That’s a pretty good family photo. And, since 1969, those are the only three guys in it.
Charming as that may be, though, isn’t that more coincidence than planning?
Sure, coming on board so young allowed them to stay as long as they did in Pittsburgh. And hailing from the defensive side of the ball lends itself a bit more to the rah-rah, blood and guts, motivational aspect of the sport.
But then you’d better have a really good tactical offensive coordinator.
Plus, I’m not sure how having no experience at a job is ever better than at least having some experience.
That angle didn’t matter so much in the grand scheme of things that, if Tomlin hadn’t blown away Steelers brass in his interview process, Russ Grimm would’ve been the head coach.
You don’t hire a method. You hire a person.
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One thing the Rooney family has done irrefutably well is hire head coaches. It’s almost diminishing the instinct used to hire those men by simply saying each of them merely fit into that box of qualifications better than anyone else at the time.
So I hope Art Rooney II and Omar Khan trust the organization’s history to hire the right guy for the job instead of the right biography for the collection.
That’s why I was alarmed to see that, of the first seven names reportedly up for consideration for the job, most of them were made-to-order carbon copies of that archetype.
Shula (L.A. Rams), Jesse Minter (L.A. Chargers), Anthony Weaver (Miami), Jeff Hafley (Green Bay) and Ejiro Evero (Carolina) are all defensive coaches who have never been NFL head coaches before.
Brian Flores (Minnesota) is also on the defensive side of the ball, but has held a head-coaching gig in the past.
Initially, the only real departure offensively was Rams’ passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. Yes, he’s 35 and would be a first-time NFL head coach. But he’s got a background on the offensive side of the ball.
Aside from Scheelhaase (and his ready-made Yinzer-sounding last name), all those candidates seemed to be gathered to merely figure out which one was the least-square peg to fit into the round hole.
Fortunately, San Francisco offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak has been a recent add to the list to shake things up.
The Steelers have submitted an interview request for 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak for their head coach vacancy, per source. pic.twitter.com/yjgYGfDFuy
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 15, 2026
During his press conference to announce Mike Tomlin’s resignation, Rooney was asked if he has a coaching “type.”
“I don’t want to put any real parameters around it. We’re going to be an open book in terms of who we look for and the list that we build,” Rooney said. “Can I sign up for another Chuck Noll, or another Bill Cowher, or another Mike Tomlin? Sure. Somebody who we feel fits that mold would be great. But for now, we’re not going to kind of narrow the box too much.”
At least Rooney is admitting there is a mold that exists. He can “swipe right” on as many of those candidates as he wants to interview.
I just don’t want him “swiping left” on Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman (who I think could be great) and rejecting him because he’s “just” a college guy. Or Kevin Stefanski and Mike McCarthy, because they used to be head coaches.
Andy Reid and Bill Belichick weren’t first-time head coaches when they landed in Kansas City and New England, respectively. They’ve combined for nine Super Bowl wins.
Allow yourself to be blown away again, Art. Because if Thursday’s story in The Athletic is accurate, the new coach is going to have to win over a lot of hearts and minds from saddened Steelers players who didn’t want Tomlin to leave.
“There are a lot of things that go into being a successful head coach,” Rooney said. “No. 1, I think, is leadership and 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.”
Unless you are playing in Cleveland in Week 17, but I digress.
“Every coach, I’m sure, we talk to will have a little different idea of his approach, and it’ll be interesting to hear from people about that. You always learn something during this interview process,” Rooney said.
Finding someone who can win in January would certainly be a nice change from whoever gets the job. That should be the only priority. Fulfilling some sort of traditional Steelers ethos shouldn’t be part of the equation.
Listen: Tim Benz and Chris Adamski discuss the Steelers coaching situation