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End of a Pittsburgh Football Era: Mike Tomlin’s Exit From The Steelers

R. H. W. Dorsey

In the last 69 years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had only six head coaches. It’s hard to imagine in relation to other teams in the NFL.

It’s easy when you think about the culture of the Pittsburgh Steelers and how the Rooney family’s mentality of sticking with the same coaches evolved when Chuck Noll became the head coach of the Steelers in 1969. With the turnover of NFL coaches in this recent era, the Pittsburgh Steelers have done things a little differently. From 1969 to January 2026, there have been only three head football coaches for Pittsburgh, that’s a 57-year span. Before 1969, there were three head coaches in 11 years: Buddy Parker, head coach from 1957-64; Mike Nixon, head coach 1965; Bill Austin, head coach from 1966-68; subsequently, the three coaches with the longest tenure with the Steelers are Chuck Noll, 1969-91, Bill Cowher, 1992-2007, and Mike Tomlin, 2007-26. 

If you only knew the history mentioned above about the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s reasonable to assume the organization has a unique philosophy when it comes to hiring talent to lead players on the field.  

As of this writing, coach Mike Tomlin is no longer the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. On January 13, 2026, Mike Tomlin stepped down after 19 seasons of coaching the Steelers. He exits Pittsburgh with 13 playoff berths and 8 AFC North wins. With the Week 18 win over Baltimore, Tomlin has tied the record with former coach Chuck Noll of 193 regular-season game wins. Tomlin’s resignation comes after a heartbreaking loss the night before on January 12, 2026. The matchup was a Monday Night Football Wild Card AFC playoff game against the Houston Texans. The Texans handily beat the Steelers 30-6. 

The climate for a new coach in Pittsburgh seemed to have come to a frenzy in the weeks preceding Tomlin‘s resignation. It was common to see football fans on social media discussing Tomlin’s future at the end of the last few seasons. Tomlin’s fate has also been a subject of many conversations by broadcast sports analysts in recent weeks.

On a personal note, when you’ve lived in a city that has enjoyed the opportunity and accomplishment of gaining six Super Bowl Championships over the years, you come to expect the same level of excellence every year, whether it happens or not. Yes, we Steelers fans are a spoiled bunch. Two of the other major sports teams in the city (Penguins (hockey) and Pirates (baseball ) are no strangers to winning championships over their history. However, I’ll go out on a limb and say the Pittsburgh Steelers football organization is what makes Pittsburgh the most recognizable team in the sports world. Some will differ with my opinion. 

The 2025-2026 season is not over as of this writing. There are still divisional playoff games to be played this coming weekend. The conference championships will follow those games, and finally, the big dance, the Super Bowl, on February 8th in Santa Clara, CA. 

It’ll be interesting to see which two teams make it to the Super Bowl. The saying “any given Sunday” seems to hold true when it comes to football. 

This piece started with news about Mike Tomlin, and I’ll end it here: “Coach Mike Tomlin, you showed us excellence in coaching, a unique way of voicing your summaries of gameplay with the interviewers (Tomlin-isms), seriousness, and a sense of humor. Coach, you leave this football fan with the feeling that your standard will be the standard wherever you land. I suspect the Pittsburgh fans will expect no less from the next coach who leads this organization.”

R.H.W. is a freelance writer and author of multi-genre publications, and a lifetime Pittsburgh Steelers fan. 

Photo by Jean-Daniel Francoeur on Pexels.com

Blogs, Creative Writing, current events, New Books, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, sports, Sports Fans, Steelers, Uncategorized

National Novel Writing Month vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

R. H. W. Dorsey
Photo credit: Sportsnaut

So, I’m feeling a little déjà vu right now. It’s National Novel Writing Month, and I’m working furiously to polish my manuscript. I don’t like that November is the month of choice for Novel Writing Month since it coincides with the height of football season. I could just stop writing, right? Nah. So, back to the déjà vu – in November of 2020, my spirits were high: my hometown team was undefeated after eleven weeks. Not to mention – I was achieving my writing goals for November 2020. Then, last week in November of 2021, the news that Big Ben Roethlisberger passed his covid-19 protocols was like music to this fan’s ears on the week of Thanksgiving 2021. Our QB was ready to fight the good fight. We still had a chance for a hopeful ending to the season. Sweet déjà vu.

Now here’s where the train went off the rails: just the other day, my Pittsburgh Steelers lost to a division rival, the Cincinnati Bengals, in week twelve of the NFL season. Correction: we got our butts handed to us in week twelve with a 41-10 loss to Cincinnati. Excuse me, it’s only been two days since the disaster, so I’m in my feelings. Even though my Steelers didn’t have a glowing record this year, there was still hope going into week twelve – at least for me, there was a semblance of hope.

It must not be understated that during week 12 of the 2020 NFL season, my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers had an 11-0 record. Fans like myself and many fair-weather fans of my team were living in our glory. However, we were unaware of the nightmare brewing in weeks to come in December of 2020. After losing three consecutive games in weeks 13 to 15, the Steelers were matched with a division rival, the Browns, in week seventeen. Today, and like last year, I’m feeling the familiar gloom and doom as I did in 2020: we lost the final game of the regular season with Cleveland. Terrible déjà vu!  It was difficult to believe my Steelers had an 11-0 record at one point and didn’t advance in the postseason.  That was a tune that played in my head for many a day after the other defeat by the Browns in the Wild Card playoff game a week later. Yes, a week later.

Now, on this last day of November 2021, the Steelers have a 5-5-1 record for this 2021-2022 season going into week 13. Experts say we don’t have a snowball’s chance on a hot summer’s day of making the playoffs this year. Like in the 2005-2006 NFL season, when my Steelers were the sixth seed to make it to the playoffs – I held out hope. Sports statisticians everywhere that season reported the astronomical odds of the Pittsburgh Steelers advancing in the playoffs. Well, my Steelers advanced to the AFC championship and to Superbowl XL. By the way, the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Superbowl that season. How’d you like them odds, Vegas? I digress.  

With all that said, one can tell I’m more of an idealist when it comes to my Pittsburgh Steelers – don’t judge me. So, anything can happen on any given Sunday. Maybe the stars will align, and other teams in our division will lose, helping our chances. (sacrificing the live chicken is not out of the question at this point) I don’t like those odds or even winning that way – but right now, it is what it is going to be. I’ll love my Steelers until I kick because I bleed black and gold. Now, where was I – oh yeah, I still have 5 hours, 49 minutes, and some seconds to reach my goal of finishing my manuscript by November 30th. It’s one goal I’ll see through this year.

Here we go, Steelers – here we go!! (Black and Gold forever!)

Blogs, Creative Writing, current events, Uncategorized

Pittsburgh Steelers end their season with a loss to division rival Cleveland Browns

R. H. W. Dorsey
Photo credit: R.H.W. Dorsey

I don’t take the Cleveland Browns win lightly over my Pittsburgh Steelers on the night of January 10, 2021. In fact, I feel like I’m in a stupor of sorts on this Monday morning after the debacle. There’s enough blame to go around for the Steelers’ loss of the NFL Wildcard playoff game on Sunday night. Some say it was because of the coaching, others say the QB was at fault, while others blame the players. Whatever happened, it was the worst “showing up” I’ve seen from my favorite football team.

I can’t give a detailed analysis of the game because I honestly didn’t watch all of the game. While I’m not a superstitious person – I have my rituals like most Steelers’ fans. Routines make some of us fans feel we’re somehow willing our team to win. One of my habits during a game when the Steelers are behind is either turning the channel or walking out of the room for a while. After a record first-quarter lead by the Cleveland Browns of twenty-eight unanswered points over my Steelers, you only have to guess what I did. I waited until late in the second quarter of the game to turn the channel. I’d had enough torture for a while.

I believe myself and most Steelers’ fan were in shock during the game because of the stellar season our team had up until week thirteen. With an 11-0 record by week twelve, we Steelers fans were on top of the world along with our team. I don’t mind that we lost in week thirteen of the regular season. A loss was bound to happen with a perfect record. I’ve seen the Steelers lose many times before in playoff season. But it’s the loss after such a great season, not counting the three consecutive defeats in weeks 13-15, that makes the loss hurt so much. To advance to a wildcard playoff game against a previously inferior division rival and lose to the extent we did is embarrassing. Sure, we made a comeback in the second half (I heard about it but didn’t see), but it was too little too late. The final score was 48-37. Cleveland advances in the playoffs, and we’re left with a 12-4 record to end our season. Cleveland outplayed us at every turn and should be congratulated for winning the game.

Now, who to blame? I’m only qualified to answer as a fan. I’d think jobs may be lost as a result of the way we ended our season. We lost four of the last five games in the regular season. Hopefully, if not in the coming days, there’ll be changes before the 2021-22 season starts. As a fan, I blame complacency by the organization, coaches, and players in preparing for the game. We had a total meltdown by the defense, offense, and coaching staff. Why weren’t we better prepared for this Browns team? Why weren’t adjustments made when it was apparent the Browns’ coaches caught on to our game plan? By the way, the Browns’ head coach wasn’t even present for the game. The report during the game was that Cleveland’s head coach was quarantined at home because of Covid-19. For the love of all things holy, why were the Browns (or you can insert any other team’s name here) “allowed” to get 28 unanswered points in the first quarter? This is not any Steelers team I’ve ever witnessed. Something went terribly wrong. I don’t think an answer as to what went wrong will satisfy any Steelers fan at this moment.  

With all that said, I still love my Pittsburgh Steelers’ team. I’ll continue to watch the games next season and root for my team to win. I’m hoping we’ll have a preseason in August 2021 since Covid-19 and the pandemic it brought stopped the 2020 NFL preseason.

It’s a solemn Monday for us die-hard Steelers’ fans. As they say, we’ll get ‘em next time!