PITTSBURGH — For the first time since 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers are searching for a new head coach.
It’s a coveted job for all the obvious reasons — a storied franchise with six Super Bowl trophies, a stable front office and ownership infrastructure and a track record of identifying under-the-radar coaching talent. At the same time, the Steelers and their head coaching candidates face real obstacles as the franchise hires its fourth head coach since 1969.
“Coaches will be interviewing Steelers brass as much as they will be interviewing the coach,” one league source said.
How much patience will team president Art Rooney II have with a new coach? What kind of resources will he provide for the coach to build out his staff? How will the roster transform, and how involved will the next coach be in that decision-making? How successful has the coach been at player development?
“Coaches will value the stability and ownership patience,” a league executive told ESPN, “but I think the organization has truly fallen behind in the NFL in terms of a modern operation.”
Rooney, though, might not be as patient as externally believed because of his increasing urgency to end a playoff win drought that extends nearly a decade. In his news conference following Tomlin’s Jan. 13 resignation, Rooney was clear he wants the next coach to hit the ground running.
“I don’t know if it’s a rebuild,” he said a week ago. “I mean, it’s a new coach, so there will be changes, and we’ll have to all get comfortable with kind of the plans of whether you call it a rebuild or not — I don’t like that word that much — we’ll try to compete Day 1 if we can.”
After conducting seven virtual interviews as of Wednesday, the Steelers are meeting with candidates in person as they narrow the search. Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores was in the building on Tuesday, while former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy returned to his hometown for an interview Wednesday.
Here are some of the biggest questions facing the franchise as it moves into the next era with a new coach.
Quarterback
Of the 10 organizations that had head coaching openings this cycle, the Steelers have one of the most unstable situations at quarterback.
The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens have former MVPs at the position (Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson), while the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans have promising young players in Jaxson Dart and Cam Ward, respectively. And though the Las Vegas Raiders don’t appear to have the answer on their roster, they could draft Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick. Both the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons have questions at the position, but they have young players who could step up.
“The biggest thing is, right now you don’t have the quarterback — or at least there’s uncertainty at the quarterback,” a league source said. “… You’re just coming into a lot of uncertainty.”
Though the Steelers would be open to a reunion with 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, Rooney admitted that Tomlin’s resignation would likely affect the quarterback’s decision to return because he came to Pittsburgh to specifically play for Tomlin. Rodgers’ future could also be affected if the Steelers were to hire McCarthy, his old head coach from Green Bay.
With Rodgers’ one-year deal expiring, the Steelers have two quarterbacks currently under contract for 2026: veteran backup Mason Rudolph and 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard. While Rudolph helped the Steelers make the playoffs in 2023 with a late-season surge, he started just one game in 2025 when Rodgers was sidelined with a broken wrist, and he doesn’t appear to be a viable long-term answer.
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That leaves the Steelers with a few different avenues to explore: choosing from a projected subpar 2026 draft class, free agency and the trade market.
For the second consecutive year, the Steelers will have the No. 21 draft pick, and with a slim group of top-tier quarterbacks available, odds aren’t great that the Steelers would find their next franchise quarterback in April. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. listed one quarterback (Mendoza) in his top-25 Big Board rankings for the 2026 class.
Including compensatory picks, the Steelers could have up to 12 total picks in the upcoming draft, meaning they have capital to move up, but it seems unlikely they would be able to — or be willing to — go all-in for Mendoza in the first round. They could look at options such as Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss if he isn’t granted a waiver to play another year of college football, but some of the most promising quarterback prospects in Oregon’s Dante Moore, Texas’ Arch Manning and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers are already committed to playing at least one more collegiate season before entering the draft in 2027. However, it’s unclear if Rooney would be willing to acquire a bridge option for the 2026 season and wait until 2027 to draft a quarterback.
The Steelers could also explore QB options via free agency or a trade, but those aren’t likely to provide long-term answers. Though he’s coming off an Achilles tear, Daniel Jones appears to be the best free agent option after a renaissance with the Indianapolis Colts. He beat out Anthony Richardson Sr. for the starting job and threw 19 touchdowns to eight interceptions in 13 starts before his season-ending Achilles rupture. Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins, 37, is also likely to become a free agent after starting the final seven games for the Falcons and throwing 10 touchdowns to five interceptions over that span.
The Steelers don’t typically spend big money on outside free agents, and their last two free agent quarterbacks signed below market value. The team could look at Malik Willis, who had a solid showing in place of Jordan Love in Green Bay late in the season, but he’s far from a proven starter. Other budget-friendly free agents could include Marcus Mariota, Zach Wilson or perhaps Justin Fields if he is released by the New York Jets after a fruitless 2025 campaign.
The projected trade market isn’t robust, either. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is likely available with a new coaching staff set to take over in Arizona, but his contract comes with a $52 million salary cap hit in 2026. Dolphins signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa is in a similar position, and he comes with a significant history of concussions.
Two other quarterbacks to keep an eye on are Mac Jones and Geno Smith — and for opposite reasons. Jones thrived in a backup role for the San Francisco 49ers as he stepped in for an injured Brock Purdy, likely earning himself another shot at a starting job. Meanwhile, Smith was one of the Raiders’ splashy moves last offseason, but his tenure in Las Vegas was dismal. Because the Raiders own the first draft pick, it stands to reason they could draft Mendoza and flip Smith for draft capital.
The Texans haven’t given any indication that C.J. Stroud could be available, but with a poor performance in the playoffs that saw him turn the ball over seven times in two games, his status could be worth monitoring. Stroud has one year left on his rookie contract in addition to a fifth-year option decision due May 1.
Ownership
While the Rooney family has guided the organization with a steady — and incredibly successful hand — since purchasing the team for $2,500 in 1933, current team president and CEO Art Rooney II, son of Dan M. Rooney, will be in the driver’s seat of his first coaching search. He assisted his dad in hiring Tomlin, but this time he will be the ultimate decider. But he also doesn’t appear to be the only Rooney involved in the decision-making process. His son, Dan Rooney, currently the team’s vice president of business development and strategy, sat beside general manager Omar Khan at the front of the room during Rooney’s news conference last week.
Though multiple league sources consider the family-owned team’s ownership stability a strength, there are concerns about its willingness to spend money in an effort to modernize the old-school franchise.
“It’s better than most, jobwise,” a long-time coaching source said. “They need to bump up salaries.”
Not only are Steelers assistants often compensated less than their counterparts on other teams, according to multiple league sources, but under Tomlin, the Steelers consistently had a smaller coaching staff than most of the league.
In 2024, the average NFL team had 23 assistant coaches, excluding strength and conditioning staff, according to data analyzed by ESPN. The Steelers had just 18, tying them with the Colts for the fewest assistant coaches in the league that season. A big part of that, of course, was Tomlin’s preference. The next head coach, though, will almost undoubtedly come from an organization with a more robust support staff, and the Steelers could be faced with needing to expand their coaching roster. In his final season in Dallas, McCarthy had 24 coaches, while Flores comes from a staff of 26 in Minnesota. As the head coach in Miami, Flores had 22 assistants, including coaching interns, in 2021.
There are signs Rooney might be be hesitant to open his checkbook to increase budgets for the new staff. In the past two NFLPA report cards, which anonymously survey NFL players from every organization, Rooney received subpar marks in the ownership category.
In the 2025 report card, the Steelers ranked 28th in ownership and received a D grade, and Rooney’s average rating for “perceived willingness to invest in the facilities” was a 6.00 out of 10 from the Steelers players, which ranked 30th. A year earlier, the Steelers were graded an F in the ownership category and ranked second to last. According to the report card, “Club owner Art Rooney II receives a rating of 5.8/10 from the Steelers players when considering his willingness to invest in the facilities (31st overall).”
And though the first iteration of the report card in 2023 didn’t specifically grade ownership, according to the report, “The common theme that arose through player respondents’ feedback was a feeling that there is a lack of resources and investment into the facility.”
The Steelers currently share a practice facility with the Pittsburgh Panthers, making them the only team in the NFL to share their permanent space with a college football program. The Steelers have also been hesitant to invest in analytics and have employed two full-time analytics staffers since the start of the 2025 season. A large reason for that was Tomlin’s preference, but if the next head coach wants to add to that department, it would undoubtedly require more resources.
But some in the league don’t believe the lack of resources and modernity will be a significant hang up for head coaching candidates.
“That is far more important in college than the NFL,” another league executive said.
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Roster construction
Not only do the Steelers lack a clear-cut answer at quarterback, but the rest of the roster needs help, too. According to Spotrac, the Steelers are currently projected to have $46.5 million in cap space in 2026, giving them flexibility to add to an aging roster. With solid recent draft classes that fortified the trenches by adding players such as defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, right tackle Troy Fautanu and center Zach Frazier, the Steelers’ roster beyond the quarterback position has good foundational players. Among their most pressing needs, though, is a second top-tier wide receiver to pair with DK Metcalf, offensive line depth, a running back and help in the secondary.
“Because of the salary cap situation and roster construction, [the job] may not be quite as appealing because they have an older roster and no QB in place,” the aforementioned league executive told ESPN.
Not only did the Steelers have the highest-paid starting defense in 2025, it was also one of the oldest.
Coming off another stellar season that earned him second-team All-Pro honors, defensive captain Cameron Heyward, 36, is set to enter the final year of his contract. Heyward, though, doesn’t have any guaranteed money left on his deal, and his cap hit is scheduled to be $19.15 million. Moving on from him would save the Steelers $14.25 million against the cap. The Steelers could also cut safety Jalen Ramsey and save $19.5 million against the cap in 2026.
The toughest contract to navigate, though, is that of star pass rusher T.J. Watt. The 31-year-old signed a three-year contract extension last offseason that comes with $42 million cap hits in each of the next two seasons. Though Watt is still a valuable defensive star, his production declined in an injury-shortened season as he finished with seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles.
The Steelers also recently signed fellow pass rusher Alex Highsmith to an extension that comes with a $20 million and $21 million cap hit in each of the next two seasons. With up-and-coming edge rusher Nick Herbig up for an extension this offseason, the Steelers could have to decide between keeping Highsmith and trading him away and paying Herbig.
On offense, the Steelers will have to decide if they want to keep their running back tandem of Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell intact by paying Gainwell. The former Philadelphia Eagles backup running back joined the team on an inexpensive one-year deal last season and went on to earn team MVP honors as he led the Steelers in receptions (73) and racked up 1,023 yards from scrimmage.
Of the potential obstacles facing the Steelers and their next head coach, managing the current roster isn’t as significant as navigating the quarterback situation and resource allotment from ownership, but it’s still a challenge to sort through a group of men who were brought together to fulfill Tomlin’s team vision.
