Steelers' Mike Tomlin Finally Admits He Is Working On Making A Big Coaching Adjustment

Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin is currently one of the top head coaches in the NFL. He has never had a losing season and has one Super Bowl triumph during his tenure. Unfortunately, since the 2016 season, the Steelers haven't won a playoff game. Tomlin knows that the expectations that Pittsburgh has for their football team has been and always will be Super Bowl victories. To survive as long as he has, he needs to keep adapting.

While appearing on The Pivot, Tomlin was asked by his former player Ryan Clark how he has evolved as a coach to continue to enjoy doing his job with so many changes. Clark even said that the Tomlin that he sees today isn't the same coach that first walked into Pittsburgh all of those years ago. 

"I just decided long ago to not be resistant to change, to be adaptable, you know what I mean? I never wanted to be the dinosaur, although I'm dinosaur-like. To not be resistant to growth."

Many fans have been waiting to see the change by Tomlin and him admitting that he doesn't want to resist change should be a reassurance to the fans of Pittsburgh. Many believed his seat in the Steel City was going to grow warmer after the Matt Canada era, but in an unusual move by the Steelers and Tomlin, they fired Canada during the 2023 season, something that hasn't happened since the 1940s. 

This offseason is a good indicator that change is coming to Pittsburgh. From adding two new quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, to hiring a offensive coordinator that found tremendous success with the Tennessee Titans in Arthur Smith, things look promising. All that, combined with adding valuable pieces to the defense in Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott, and Donte Jackson, should breed a new and hopeful environment for the Black and Gold.

Tomlin will face tough challenges this season, especially in the back half of the year. From Week 10 through Week 18, the Steelers will play all six of their divisional games, along with facing the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. This could be a perfect test to see the effect of the changes he made to the staff, and how the front office configured the roster as a whole. Will it benefit the Steelers, or will they struggle against the top contenders in the NFL?

Steelers fans will still be skeptical to begin this season until they see the team in action the first few weeks. Even though some changes are already visible, like roster moves and staff hirings, the play of the team is still yet to be seen and the starting personnel. In training camp, Tomlin is allowing the younger guys to have more opportunities with first team reps, with Troy Fautanu (the Steelers' first-round pick of the 2024 NFL Draft) getting plenty of looks at the right tackle position. Tomlin knows that to be successful in this league, you have to put your best players out there and with the struggles the offense had last season (from play-calling to the offensive line itself), another big change could be coming with rookies starting in Week 1 if they continue to show they are capable.

Will The Steelers See Success With The Changes That Were Made?

Tomlin has and will continue to adjust with the league. He wouldn't have lasted as long as he has if he didn't. Another change is needed to find the playoff success that fans have been begging for, however. Will that include allowing rookies to start in Week 1, like Fautanu and Zach Frazier, unlike what fans saw last season with slowly adding snaps to Joey Porter Jr. and not starting Broderick Jones until later on in the season? Or will the offense have more life than it has had in the last three seasons? 

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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