There was a lot of finger pointing in the wake of the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Jaguars last month and some of it was directed at head coach Mike Tomlin for not having his team ready to play against Jacksonville.
The Steelers fell behind 21-0 in the loss, but Steelers president Art Rooney II didn’t pin that on Tomlin. Rooney said that was “part Mike’s problem, but mostly it’s the guys on the field who have to make sure it doesn’t happen” and went on to say that Tomlin’s 116-60 record “speaks for itself.”
“You look at Mike’s record overall and you start to look around,” Rooney said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’s always easy for people to say you should get rid of your coach. OK, well, who are you hiring next. There’s another part to that equation that people don’t want to get into. I’m very comfortable Mike is our coach and happy that he’s our coach, and I think he’s one of the best coaches in the NFL.”
Tomlin’s detractors would point to his 3-5 record in the postseason since winning Super Bowl XLV as a sign that the team hasn’t gotten enough out of its talent, but there’s been little sign that the organization feels that way even after a disappointing end to the 2017 season.