Art Rooney II made it clear that the Steelers loved the Mike Tomlin model at head coach, and he doesn’t anticipate that changing. Half-jokingly saying that he would sign up for another Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, or Mike Tomlin, that is their ideal. And that includes the power structure they have had intact going back many years.
There are some organizations in which the coaches coach and the general managers manage…generally. With the Steelers, the two have long collaborated as a brain trust, forming consensuses rather than wielding authority. Mike Tomlin had that collaboration with Kevin Colbert, later Omar Khan, with Art Rooney II in the mix on everything. Rooney spoke about the team’s head coach search yesterday and offered a telling comment.
“I don’t think I anticipate really changing our structure or chain of command”, Rooney said via the Steelers’ website. “I expect the new head coach, like Bill Cowher, like Mike Tomlin, like Chuck Noll, will be very involved in preparing for the draft and working closely with Omar and his staff and making sure we’re ready”.
Tomlin was a ubiquitous presence on the scouting circuit, and Colbert and Khan were abnormally present as well, relative to the on-the-ground activities of other general managers around the league. It seems clear that Rooney wants the Steelers’ next head coach to be cut from the same cloth.
Arguably, Tomlin slowly took on greater power over time, particularly with his coaching staff. That was especially true when it came to the defense. But he inherited the infrastructure of a coaching staff, and to a larger extent, a roster. Bill Cowher turned over his coaching staff from Chuck Noll.
“A big part of the search for a new head coach is really understanding their ideas about the staff and who they would want to hire. That’s an important part of the discussion”, Art Rooney said when asked about the retention of Mike Tomlin’s staff. Asked about the qualities he looks for, he said in part, “Obviously, somebody that has the experience of doing what we need them to do is gonna be key”.
And what Rooney and the Steelers need their next head coach to do is what Tomlin did. They don’t want somebody who is going to report to the general manager. They want a collaborator, all of whom report to him, but work independently.
So far, the Steelers have five names out there, with Rooney and Khan leading the search. Among them are two Rams assistants from the Sean McVay tree, Nate Scheelhaase and Chris Shula. Also among the names is Brian Flores, who has prior head coaching experience and worked one season under Mike Tomlin. Jesse Minter and Anthony Weaver round out the group, consisting of four defensive coordinators and one pass game coordinator. Time will tell which one of these—and others to come—best fit the job description. A job description that Rooney has no desire to change, even as its occupant does.
