Rooney Makes Bold Statement About Pending Offensive Coordinator Hire NFL
Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Art Rooney Makes Bold Statement About Pending Offensive Coordinator Hire
Sean LabarBy Sean LabarJanuary 29, 2024No Comments4 Mins Read
Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin, Art Rooney
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to start winning and put together a staff and roster capable of competing for championships.
Despite missing the playoffs yet again — and questions surrounding the quarterback position — with searches for assistant coaches underway, owner Art Rooney opted to stick with Mike Tomlin for the 2024 season.
The Steelers haven’t won a postseason game since the 2016 season. The seven-year drought is the longest for the franchise since the NFL merger, and the Steelers have lost their past five postseason games, including a 31-17 defeat against Buffalo in the wild-card round this season.
“We’ve had enough of this,” Art Rooney said during an interview session with reporters. “It’s time to get some wins. It’s time to take the next steps. There is some urgency here, for sure.”
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Pittsburgh Steelers mike tomlin
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Rooney II believes Mike Tomlin is the right coach for the job. Although Tomlin is entering the final season of his contract, Rooney is trying to sign him to an extension. He didn’t provide a timetable for when the extension might get finished or how many extra years Tomlin could receive, but it is a priority.
“Players still respond to Mike, and that’s No. 1,” Rooney said. “He still has the key characteristics we saw when we hired him. He can keep the attention of a group of 20-year-olds for a whole season and keep them in the fight the whole way.”
“We still feel good about Mike. If I didn’t, we’d make a change. If I didn’t think Mike could lead us to a championship, he wouldn’t be here.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers offset a three-game losing streak in December by winning their final three games to finish 10-7 and assure Tomlin a 17th consecutive non-losing season. It was a one-game improvement on the 9-8 record the Steelers had in 2022 when they missed the postseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin
Head coach Mike Tomlin will have his hands full this season trying to figure out which quarterback is best fit to maximize the offensive weapons he has.
“I think it’s fair to say we are closer this year at this stage of the game than we were at this point last year,” Rooney said. “I thought we had a solid rookie class and a few guys who stepped in and are solid starters for the future. We need to do it again and have another solid draft class. We can compete with this group.”
If the Steelers are going to compete and Rooney is right, they have to bring in a dynamic offensive coordinator that can either get the most out of Kenny Pickett and help make him the franchise QB, or work with Tomlin and the general manager to draft one he likes or make a move in free agency.
Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Art Rooney Says Pending OC Decision Is Completely Mike Tomlin’s Choice
Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin, Art Rooney
The Steelers and Tomlin were loyal to former offensive coordinator Matt Canada for far too long. Everyone in the NFL knew a change needed to be made and yet they stuck with him week after week until the pressure caved in.
The most recent candidate Pittsburgh has interviewed is former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith and there are plenty of names on the list.
But Pittsburgh Steelers owner wanted to make it clear the final decision is solely up to head coach Mike Tomlin.
“To be clear, it’s Mike’s hire,” Rooney said,
“Head coaches hire their coordinators, and I think it’d be a mistake for me to try to screw up the lines of authority, let’s say, in terms of how things are supposed to work. “That being said, Mike and I talk every day. Omar talks every day sharing ideas, but that’s got to be Mike’s hiring, and I think Mike identified we want somebody that has some experience and somebody that has let’s say a track record that we can look at and feel comfortable with. And so those are the things that Mike is looking for.”
