Losing to a two win Cardinals team last Sunday may be the event that finally changes the course of this franchise.  No one in the organization can now deny that the offense isn’t fundamentally broken, and their head caoch may not be able to fix it.  The Steelers can no longer pretend everything will fix itself by staying the course.  It is indeed beyond time for significant changes in Pittsburgh.  Here are two scenarios we think must be taken by this team for next season:

Scenario 1: The ultimatum

In this scenario Art Rooney II sits Mike Tomlin down and gives him an edict.  Hire a young, innovative offensive coordinator to bring this offense out of the stone ages.  No friends.  No coaches that have done you favors.  Most importantly no one on the current staff.  This absolutely must be someone outside the organization who can bring fresh ideas to a stale offense.

Next they all sit down together to pick the direction this franchise goes at quarterback.  This must be a group decision, not one solely made by Mike Tomlin.  In fact, this should be driven mainly by whichever coordinator they choose.  This franchise has proven their evaluation of quarterbacks is severely lacking.  From giving Mason Rudolph a first round grade, to cutting Josh Dobbs twice despite him being clearly the best backup, to drafting Kenny Pickett, this team has failed at evaluating this position.

This should be an ultimatum from Rooney to Tomlin, not a suggestion.  If Tomlin refuses to comply, that brings us to our next scenario….

Scenario 2: Burn it all down

If Mike Tomlin is unwilling to make these necessary changes, then thank him for his services and politely move on.  Pittsburgh can go about this in several ways.  Just flat out firing their head caoch doesn’t feel like a Steelers type move.  It’s more likely they frame it as a “mutual parting of the ways”.  The idea of trading Mike Tomlin has also been floated lately.  We discussed this idea in the past here:Trading Mike Tomlin: The best thing that will never happen for the Pittsburgh Steelers

There was a time where moving on from Mike Tomlin was unthinkable.  The thought of Art Rooney firing his head coach was absurd.  We thought that about firing a coordinator mid season as well.  Things have gotten so bad offensively with this franchise even the league’s most patient owner may have had his fill.

Every coach no matter how good eventually runs his course.  Even a coach with six Super Bowl wins like Bill Belichick appears to be on his way out.  This does not have to be a death sentence however.  If the Steelers have shown anything, it is an ability to hire great coaches.  They are certainly capable of doing it again.

The right move:

For the record, we are in favor of scenario 1 here.  The thought of Mike Tomlin with a bright young offensive coordinator would be quite a thing to behold.  This would require Tomlin to allow this coordinator to run the offense as he sees fit with no interference.  This is the tricky part though.  Is it in Mike Tomlin’s DNA to allow a coach to do his thing without any restraints?  He will have to or the time for significant changes in Pittsburgh may include him being somewhere else in 2024.