Tomlin plans to stay
He reportedly told players as much Tuesday in final meeting
If anyone in the Steelers locker room — on the last day they’ll all be in there until this spring — should have a sense of Mike Tomlin’s future, it’s Cam Heyward. He’s a longtime defensive captain, the longest-tenured player on the team, the one who’s been through more ups and downs with Tomlin than anybody this side of Ben Roethlisberger.
Heyward called it a “disservice” to Tomlin that there’s been so much speculation about where Tomlin will coach next season. And he essentially backed his coach’s decision to walk away from the podium Monday night when asked about his contract status, with one year left on his current deal.
“He’s been locked in, and I appreciate it, because that’s only creating more dissension for the players and coaches,” Heyward said Tuesday, adding that he’s not sure why Tomlin would answer that sort of question minutes after losing a playoff game.
Perhaps Heyward meant to call it a distraction, but if so, that could be a Freudian slip on his part.
Either way, Mike Tomlin told his players in a team meeting on Tuesday he wants to return for his 18th season as Steelers coach in 2024 and not to believe the rumors that have been swirling about his future, sources have told the Post-Gazette.
Tomlin is due a contract extension in the spring that would keep him with the team through at least the 2026 season. He is among the highest-paid coaches in the league at approximately $11 million per year.
As for the talk Monday about discipline within the locker room that surfaced after Monday’s 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wild-card game, it does seem that not all players are on the same page when it comes to policing themselves.
Monday night in Buffalo, running back Najee Harris stressed the need for more discipline, stronger in-house rules and doing what it takes behind the scenes to “elevate” past the first round of the playoffs. Harris hasn’t always been one to share a clear message, which makes him something of a curious narrator on this front, but he might have one powerful ally in team MVP T.J. Watt.
“Nothing I’d like to talk about publicly,” Watt said as to whether there are aspects that need to change within the team. “I think some things are handled in-house for a reason. I think we have some things we’ve done here good and some things that can change, but I think overall, we’ve done a good job for the most part.”
The backup to Harris, Jaylen Warren, allowed that “maybe just a little” change is needed to help the group come together next season. Warren saw that players were “willing to buy-in” down the stretch as the Steelers ripped off a three-game win streak to push into the playoffs.
But third-year tight end Pat Freiermuth declined to comment on what Harris brought to the forefront. Heyward was even more pointed in his reaction, acknowledging that while he doesn’t know everything that goes on in offensive meetings, he’s been in this organization much longer.
“More rules don’t get it done. Playing better gets it done,” Heyward said. “Being accountable? Yes. But making big plays and making big plays in big moments? That’s what we need to get back to.”
What it all goes back to, then, is Tomlin. He’s the voice who sets the agenda for the entire team, from top to bottom.
Watt’s defense of Tomlin came out sounding similar to Heyward’s.
“Yeah, I want to play for Mike T. That was huge in my contract talks. I don’t want to play for anybody other than Mike T,” Watt said. “You guys understand and see in the way that I talk about him how much I respect and appreciate him as a coach, as a man, as a leader, and that’s my endorsement for him.”
Heyward summed up his thoughts with a prediction that Tomlin will coach the Steelers again in 2024 — because he wants to be a Steeler, because he is a Steeler. Ownership likely wants that, too, or at least prefers that option to finding out what awaits in the great beyond.
Leave it to a man of few words in Warren to get to the root of that dilemma. The grass isn’t always greener, of course, but many believe the grass in Pittsburgh isn’t growing much at all.
“That’s all I’ve known,” Warren said. “He’s a great head coach. I would like to play for him for the rest of my career. Just the way he goes about his business, how he takes care of us — I’ve heard from other places that’s not the case sometimes. I actually don’t want to find that out.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko