Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Art Rooney Makes Bold Statement About Pending Offensive Coordinator Hire

Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Art Rooney Makes Bold Statement About Pending Offensive Coordinator Hire

The Pittsburgh Steelers must start winning and build a staff and roster capable of competing for titles.

Despite missing the playoffs yet again and questions surrounding the quarterback position, with searches for

assistant coaches starting, owner Art Rooney chose to keep Mike Tomlin for the 2024 season.

The Steelers have not won a postseason game since the 2016 season.

The seven-year skid is the franchise’s longest since the NFL merger,

and the Steelers have lost their last five playoff games, including a 31-17 loss to Buffalo in the wild-card stage this season.

“We’ve had enough of this,” Art Rooney remarked in an interview with reporters.

“It’s time to achieve some victories. It’s time to take the next step. There is some urgency here, for sure.”

Rooney II thinks Mike Tomlin is the right coach for the job. Despite the fact that Tomlin’s contract is about to expire,

Rooney is attempting to extend it. He did not specify a timeline for when the extension may be completed or how many additional years Tomlin could earn, but it is a priority.

“Players still respond to Mike, and that’s No. 1,” Rooney said in a statement.

“He still possesses the important attributes we identified when we recruited him.

He can hold the attention of a group of 20-year-olds for an entire season and keep them fighting all the way.”

“We still have good feelings about Mike. If I don’t, we’ll make a change.

If I didn’t believe Mike could lead us to the title, he wouldn’t be here.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers ended a three-game losing streak in December by winning their final three games to finish 10-7 and secure Tomlin’s 17th consecutive winning season.

It was a one-game improvement from the Steelers’ 9-8 record in 2022, when they missed the playoffs.

“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,” he remarked.

“I believed we had a strong rookie class and a few individuals that stood up and will be excellent starters in the future.

We need  to do it again and have another solid draft class.

We can compete with this group.”

If the Steelers are to contend, and Rooney is correct,

they must hire a creative offensive coordinator who can either get

the most out of Kenny Pickett and help him become the franchise quarterback,

or work with Tomlin and the general manager to select or sign a free agent.

Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney says the pending OC decision is entirely Mike Tomlin’s choice.

For much too long, the Steelers and Tomlin remained loyal to former offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

Everyone in the NFL knew a change was necessary,

yet they persevered with him week after week until the pressure became too much.

The most recent candidate Pittsburgh has interviewed is former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith,

and there are several more on the list.

But the Pittsburgh Steelers’ owner wants to make it clear that the final choice is entirely up to head coach Mike Tomlin.
“To be clear, it’s Mike’s hire,” Rooney told reporters.

“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 speak every day.

Omar communicates every day, discussing ideas, but that’s have to be Mike’s hiring,

and I think Mike identified we want somebody with some experience and who has, quote

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