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Bruce Arians calls for Mike Tomlin to consider leaving Steelers, 'start over'

Meby: Nick Geddes12/02/25NickGeddesNews

While it’s difficult to quantify how hot Mike Tomlin‘s seat is, Pittsburgh Steelers fans made their opinion known Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. With the Steelers trailing the Buffalo Bills at home, chants of “Fire Tomlin” began to ring out around the stadium.

Clearly, a portion of Steelers fans are ready for Tomlin to go. If Bruce Arians, who previously coached under Tomlin, were in his shoes, he’d “get out and go somewhere new.”

“I would not want to be either one of the coordinators because you’re not coming back next year, for sure. That’s gonna happen, it’s always happened,” Arians said on Tuesday’s Pat McAfee Show. “So, it’s like, will Art [Rooney II] pull the trigger, which I doubt very seriously. If I were Mike, I’d want to get out and go somewhere new. Start over.”

Mike Tomlin could be on the hot seat in Pittsburgh

Frustration in Pittsburgh is reaching a boiling point. The Steelers got off to a 4-1 start but have now dropped to 6-6. They once had a sizeable lead in the AFC North. Now, the Baltimore Ravens are the betting favorites to finish in first.

Tomlin, 53, has been Pittsburgh’s head coach since the 2007 season. This is year 19 of what has been a successful run for Tomlin in the Steel City. The Steelers are well over .600 and won a Super Bowl in 2008 under his leadership. Pittsburgh under Tomlin has finished .500 or better in every season.

The Steelers, however, have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season. That’s nearly a decade, and this season doesn’t look to be promising in snapping that streak. This is a franchise which has six Lombardi trophies, and they haven’t been close to reaching that level in some time. Tomlin signed a three-year contract extension prior to the 2024 season. He is under contract through the 2027 season.

The Steelers have had just three head coaches since 1969. Simply put, this is an organization that doesn’t fire coaches. If the season continues to go sideways, it’ll be interesting to see if Rooney decides to take drastic measures.