The Pittsburgh Steelers faced a disappointing 28-14 loss against the Baltimore Ravens during the NFL‘s Wild Card Weekend. The Steelers finished the season with a 10-7 record, which, according to former NFL Pro Bowler Damien Woody, isn’t up to the franchise’s standards and calls for some significant changes, including head coach Mike Tomlin.
Damien Woody Drops Blunt Statement on Mike Tomlin’s Future With Steelers
Many fans were unimpressed with Tomlin’s coaching during the team’s trip to Baltimore. Quarterback Justin Fields was again not used as per his capabilities, while many also felt that the play-calling was extremely conservative.
While Tomlin is an accomplished coach, he hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, which led Woody to comment on what he thinks should be the Steelers’ head coach’s future.
Woody used one of Tomlin’s ideologies, “standard is standard,” to explain his point, as he questioned the Steelers’ standard in 2024. He mentioned that Tomlin has now lost six straight playoff games despite being a Super Bowl-winning coach.
.@damienwoody believes it's time for the Steelers to move on from Mike Tomlin 😯
"I think it's time. I think it's time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move in a different direction." pic.twitter.com/0FhXpSRnnt
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 13, 2025
The former Pro Bowler said that while he loves Tomlin, it’s time for him to change the course of his career, similar to Andy Reid, who moved from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Kansas City Chiefs and made a historic comeback.
“I think it’s time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move in a different direction. I don’t say that lightly. I love Mike Tomlin. I love what he stands for. I love the mentality he brings. One of the things that he always says is the standard is the standard. What’s the standard in Pittsburgh right now?
“The standard right now is we’re talking about a guy, Mike Tomlin, who’s the only Super Bowl-winning HC to lose six straight playoff games. Six straight one-and-dones.
“I don’t want to hear about quarterback. I don’t want to hear about office system. Okay, there’s a bigger problem in the Steelers organization right now. There’s a bigger problem. And again, I can have affinity towards Mike Tomlin, but also at the same breath, understand that sometimes things run its course.
“We’ve seen it with Andy Reid in Philadelphia. Yeah, Andy Reid was tremendous. He took multiple quarterbacks to the Super Bowl and had all types of success for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he ran his course and moved on to the Kansas City Chiefs, and the rest is history.”
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers have not indicated any interest in replacing Tomlin as head coach.