There may be nobody in the world who is prouder to have been a Pittsburgh Steeler than Ryan Clark. Clark, a 13-year NFL veteran, played eight campaigns with Pittsburgh. He helped the Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII and made his lone Pro Bowl appearance (2011) in their colors.
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Clark played his final seven seasons in the Steel City under head coach Mike Tomlin. The two hold a close relationship; Tomlin’s appearance on Clark’s podcast, The Pivot, two years ago is one of the most viewed episodes in the program’s existence.
Bottom line? When Clark speaks about his former coach, his comments come from a place of love. So, when he boldly claimed that Tomlin should depart Pittsburgh – after 19 years as their top dog – on Thursday’s episode of First Take, you know he was speaking from the heart.
“I always say this, and people get mad at me. I believe that Mike Tomlin is unfireable… if Mike Tomlin steps away from being the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, that that should be his decision. And… I do believe that should be the decision he makes. I believe Mike Tomlin should coach in another organization… and be a fresh voice somewhere else.”
Clearly, Clark is not suggesting that Mike T is the problem, but that his talents aren’t truly conducive to the environment in Pittsburgh.
The crux of Clark’s belief stems from Pittsburgh’s residency in NFL purgatory. The Steelers have not finished below .500 in Tomlin’s nearly two-decade tenure, an absolutely incredible accomplishment. At the same time, they’ve not been good enough to truly compete for the Super Bowl for much of the past ten years. Their last playoff triumph came on Jan. 15, 2017.
Does Tomlin shoulder the entirety of the blame for that? No. In fact, if Tomlin were a worse coach, he might already be coaching another franchise. Since that aforementioned postseason victory (eight seasons ago), Pittsburgh has outperformed its expected record (described here as 10.7 wins). And his success came in spite of shoddy quarterback play for a large portion of that period.
As Clark mentioned, this tune he’s singing isn’t new. He made a similar suggestion back in January, roughly three weeks after the Steelers were soundly beaten by the Baltimore Ravens (28-14) in the AFC Wild Card round. Back then, he had said, “Mike T needs to find his Kansas City.”
But the important question is whether Tomlin is willing to leave the Steelers and choose a second team.
Should Mike Tomlin choose to leave the Steelers?
Right now, the Steelers seem to be in the same precarious spot. Even if Aaron Rodgers joins the fray, Pittsburgh will be relying on a 41-year-old to out-duel Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow just to win the division. And beyond the AFC North, there’s a fearsome quartet – Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, and C.J. Stroud – looming as potential playoff foes.
When you add everything up, a mutual parting of ways between Tomlin and the Steelers at the conclusion of this season makes sense. Tomlin can raise the ceiling for another organization, like Andy Reid did for the Kansas City Chiefs. This would allow Pittsburgh to finally hit the reset button and begin a real search for its next franchise signal-caller.
As Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots proved, all good things come to an end. The Tomlin-Steelers marriage has been that and more. But for both parties to take two steps forward, they need to take a step back and go in opposite directions.
