BALTIMORE — Mike Tomlin sauntered across the field at M&T Bank Stadium, found the camera, looked directly into it through his aviator sunglasses and blew a kiss. It landed like an exclamation point at the end of arguably the most tumultuous week of his Steelers tenure.
Just seven days earlier in Pittsburgh, fans frustrated by an inconsistent season and a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since January of 2017 erupted into a “Fire Tomlin” chant. Tomlin has faced criticism and calls for his job before, but never like that — in his own stadium and in the middle of a game. It set off a week-long media firestorm, with one half of the talking heads saying it was time to move on and the other half saying Tomlin would have a new job in a day if he was ever let go. Even former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suggested on his podcast that it might be time to “clean house.”
With the noise growing, their backs against the wall and their coach in the crosshairs, the Steelers responded with an imperfect, but gutsy 27-22 win to take control of the AFC North.
With winnable games on the horizon against the Dolphins and Browns, the Steelers paved a more realistic path to the playoffs. They now have a 66 percent chance to make the tournament, according to The Athletic’s Playoff Simulator.
How much did this win mean?
“It means maybe you guys will shut the hell up for a week,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
It would be an easy narrative to say that Tomlin saved his job in Baltimore, but that’s probably not reality. The truth is, Tomlin’s job is — and has been — more secure than many would like to believe. The Steelers value stability and continuity above all else. The Rooney family has, famously, employed just three head coaches since 1969: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Tomlin. There have been twice as many Popes (six) during that span.
The last time this patient approach was truly tested was in January of 2024. Tomlin’s Steelers were blown out in the playoffs against the Bills, marking seven consecutive years without a playoff win. With just one year remaining on his contract at the time, the team and Tomlin had reached a crossroads. Asked about his contract situation during the postgame news conference, Tomlin abruptly turned and walked out of the interview, refusing to give the question credence by even acknowledging it. The moment has been immortalized as a meme.
Sure enough, rather than moving on from Tomlin, the Steelers did the exact opposite: They gave him a contract extension and a raise that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in all of professional sports.
While that viral moment provides a good reminder of how the Steelers do business, the contract itself is also a critical part of this conversation. Simply put, the Steelers almost never pay coaches not to coach. In the middle of the Matt Canada disaster, the Steelers hung onto the failing offensive coordinator well past his expiration date (at the risk of stunting Kenny Pickett’s development) and tried to get the coach to finish out at least the final year of his contract. It took weeks of “Fire Canada” chants for the team to, reluctantly, dismiss him mid-season in 2023. That long-overdue move was the first time in 92 years the Steelers fired a coordinator mid-season.
Tomlin, who is now just three wins away from tying Noll’s regular-season win total, is a much better coach than Canada. Just as central to this discussion, he’s also a lot more expensive, with a reported salary of $16 million per year. When the Steelers announced that contract, they said it would run through at least the end of the 2027 season. However, the Steelers have to decide by March 1 if they’re going to pick up the option for the 2027 season or if they want to decline it, which would make 2026 the last year, according to multiple reports.
It would be impossible at this exact moment to say what comes next for Tomlin. But when you consider all these factors, it seems that Tomlin himself will have the largest say in where this nearly two-decade-long marriage goes from here.
If Steelers fans continue to make it loud and clear in stadiums that they no longer want Tomlin, could he eventually decide he doesn’t want to coach in a city that no longer appreciates him? If the season unravels and the Steelers choose to decline the 2027 option after this year (there’s no indication they’re planning to do so), could Tomlin decide he doesn’t want to be a lame-duck coach in 2026? Or will Tomlin, an individual obsessed with competition, want to fight until the very end no matter how much his approval rating dips in Pittsburgh?
Depending how this season ends, we may not need to even ponder those questions. While Tomlin has a large say in his future, the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers now control their own destiny — and they gained that power with a classic Tomlin-esque win.
Aaron Rodgers on what Sunday’s win means, one week after fans were chanting to “Fire Tomlin”:
“It means maybe you guys will shut the hell up for a week.”
(🎥 via @steelers) pic.twitter.com/ONcQ2A3tzr
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) December 7, 2025
Over the years, players say that Tomlin’s consistent approach is what makes him unique. That was especially true this week.
“He didn’t get out of character and say, ‘Oh the sky is falling and we have to act completely different,’” said Cameron Heyward, the Steelers’ longest-tenured player. “Our message is the same. Get better. Own your mistakes.
“Everybody talks about what Tomlin needs to do. It’s what the players have to do. I think it start with our leadership. We own our mistake. When we lose, we take it the worst. It shouldn’t be coach Tomlin. Players play, coaches coach.”
When Steelers team president and owner Art Rooney II signed Tomlin to his current deal in 2024, he said, “The players still respond to Mike, and that’s No. 1. He can keep the attention of 20-year-olds for a whole season and keep them in the fight the whole way.”
This week, especially, that was true. Losing five of their last seven games could have planted seeds of doubt. Calls for their head coach to be fired could have fractured the locker room. However, based on the way the Steelers played, they continue to be invested and have a desire to support their coach.
“To be blunt, we don’t care at all,” receiver Calvin Austin III said, channeling another famous Tomlin meme. “The whole world could be chanting ‘Fire Coach T.’ We’re going to be with Coach T. At the end of the day, all that matters is us players are behind him.”