After 19 seasons, with zero playoff wins in the last 10, as merely finishing above .500 became a highlighted accomplishment, it was time. While it could've been framed as a firing, Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers parted ways after last season.
Tomlin is staying close to the game this season as an analyst for NBC's "Sunday Night Football." When the season is over, if he wants to entertain a return, he will be a prominent name when it comes to head coaching openings.
The ball will, of course, be fully in his court, and the list of teams he would want to coach is naturally short.
Appearing on the "PFF NFL Show" recently, Tomlin shared whether he'd be back in the coaching profession at some point when asked by NBC colleague Cris Collinsworth.
"It’s certainly not a 32-team league for me. But I've also learned to never say never.
I love to coach. I love all the challenges of the profession. I love the being a part of growth and development of young people individually. I love the measurement of the seven-day cycle.
But I also have enjoyed the last six months. Life on this other side that I had no idea about.”
Tomlin became the Steelers' head coach when he was just 35 years old, so he's still a relatively young man at 54 years old. If he wants to coach again in 2027, he'll surely be able to.
Potential Mike Tomlin return to the Minnesota Vikings isn't as crazy as it seems
The Steelers hired Tomlin with just one season as a defensive coordinator on his resume. That season, of course, came with the Vikings in 2006, under then-first-year head coach Brad Childress.
That year, spearheaded by the "Williams Wall" (defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams), the Vikings had the No. 1 run defense in the NFL. They also allowed the eighth-fewest total yards, helping Tomlin get the Steelers' attention after Bill Cowher retired.
It didn't take long for Vikings fans to wish Tomlin could have been retained, or promoted to replace Childress, as the Steelers won a Super Bowl in his second season. But the Wilfs were not going to fire their first head coaching hire as team owners just one season in, even if it was a 6-10 campaign.
Kevin O'Connell is entering his fifth season as Vikings' head coach. An every-other-season pattern says a playoff berth is coming this year, but if another year goes by without a postseason win, the heat will turn up.
About a month ago, owner Mark Wilf said, measured against a standard of playoff wins and winning championships, how the patience which has existed for his family over the course of 20-plus years isn't "infinite."
If the Vikings just don't win a playoff game this year, O'Connell's job status may be determined by what options there are to replace him. If things go especially awry - say, 10 or 11 losses and no chance at the playoffs with weeks to go - he might be gone without consideration for other options.
In any case, the Vikings might be on the list of teams Tomlin would consider returning to coach if they have an opening in 2027. And 20 years after his departure, he could come back and take the job fans came to wish he could've had back then.
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