Can the steelers fire Mike Tomlin?

I get that we fans don't care about what the team would owe Tomlin if they fired him now. That's because it isn't our money. If Rooney were Kraft, he might not care either. But he's not that wealthy. And he isn't going to piss away $40MM to fire Tomlin. Especially since that would probably mean the team would do worse in the short term. Again, I think the fact that we waited so long to do this with Canada when he was making less than 10% of Tomlin's salary tells us all we need to know here.

On your other point...I think it depends on what we mean by "competitive".

To Rooney, I think this means "minimizing regular season games that don't have any relevance to making the playoffs". I think I heard some kind of crazy stat that we've only had something like 3-5 of those since Tomlin was hired. Imagine being a Browns fan and knowing your team is out of the playoffs by the time their bye rolls around year after year. It's kind of why I have respect for Browns fans... you know they really love the team to keep cheering for that **** show.

Without a good to great QB, this team won't be competitive for a SB no matter who the coach is.

I used to be very pro-not firing Tomlin. But I don't think it has really mattered since Ben got hurt in 2019.

Getting rid of him would probably make us worse in the short term (I think he's a high floor coach who's done more with less since 2019). But being worse is probably the best way for us to have a shot at getting one of those QBs.

But I don't think Rooney wants to take that risk. Because his wealth comes from the football team. And it's very clear that we are very much against "tearing it down and rebuilding". I think this is because down years in the revenue would be quite bad for the majority owner (but this is just speculation).

 

Anyone can be fired.

 

The Emperor, OP, started this thread Sept. 2017 asking if they can fire him. They went on to go 13-3 clinching the division with IMO one of the greatest Steeler regular season game ever beating the Ravens 39-38.

Maybe he should have asked after the nightmare with Jacksonville.

 

I think his contract has a no trade contract as well. I'd be on board with trading him because I think it would give us a premium pick that could be used as part of a package to get a QB with a good shot at being above average.

And QB >>> HC

Maybe Rooney can do some things to limit Tomlin's authority / control to try to incentivize him to quit.

 

That's pretty funny. Didn't realize that this was a necro-thread.

 

If we miss the playoffs this year and next year, I don't think he'll get extended.

Especially if we're out of competition for a playoff berth early.

But if I had to bet today, I'd bet on another 3 year extension after the 2026 season.

 

I think he could get another coaching job if he wanted to.

Just like Peyton could have.

But why not take a couple years off while still making a **** ton of money?

Sit out a couple years and wait for a great opportunity to come up while you're spending Rooney's money.

Maybe get a side gig like starting a podcast or something.

 

It's what I'm thinking too. Mikey boy to 2030. Maybe he'll try Howard by then?

 

And it was only a one page thread.

 

The Tomlin style only worked with Lebeau running the defense. When he left the jokers Tomlin hired on offense and defense were below average.


Rooney risks nothing football related. We have not won a playoff game in 8+ years . He might risk political standing if he parts with Tomlin before his contract is up.


Yeah -- our Qbs have been a weak lot. Cowher had a weak lot of Qb's too. He overcame them and won in the playoffs... several times.


https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/CowhBi0.htm

 

As long as there is popcorn in the title somewhere. @HeinzMustard

 

anyone ....

 

Beat way to give Tomlin an incentive to quite is to say the best direction of the franchise moving forward is a hard reset, and give him the option to be apart of this direction. Tomlin would obviously scoff at this notion and both sides go their separate ways.