Pittsburgh radio hosts call for Steelers to fire HC Mike Tomlin

For 17 seasons, Mike Tomlin has served as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And for 17 seasons, the NFL’s most storied franchise has not once finished a season below .500.

But when it comes to 2023, Tomlin’s Steelers (7-6) feel in danger of falling below that line for the first time following back-to-back home losses to the Arizona Cardinals (3-10) and New England Patriots (3-10) in a span of four days.

The offense? Disjointed and uncreative. The defense? A shell of itself from years’ past. The result? A fanbase and city rapidly losing confidence in the future Hall of Fame head coach. After the 21-18 defeat to the Patriots on “Thursday Night Football,” a Pittsburgh radio host went as far to call for Tomlin to be traded or perhaps fired.

“Worst 2 game stretch of the Mike Tomlin era. Team gagged away a playoff spot,” Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan wrote on X. “Just out of curiosity, how does a pro-(Mike) Tomlin Steelers fan defend him right now?”

Fillipponi continued, advocating for Pittsburgh to start over under the belief that Tomlin’s time has run its course.

“Have a conversation,” he wrote. “Ask Tomlin what he wants to do. Tell him he’s not getting a contract extension. Let him interview with other teams. Then trade him there. Start over.”

Is the Mike Tomlin era coming to an end in Pittsburgh?

Tomlin, 51, led the Steelers to a Super Bowl title in the 2008 season, but has failed to win the big one since. The reality is, the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016 and don’t appear to yet have the successor to Ben Roethlisberger barring a turnaround from the currently injured Kenny Pickett.

However, it’s fair to question if the Steelers would pull such a move — something they haven’t done before. In the last 55 years, the Steelers have only had three head coaches: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Tomlin. Pittsburgh has the reputation as the most loyal franchise in the NFL as a result.

Will that change? Dorin Dickerson, former NFL tight end and co-host of “The Fan Morning Show,” made the case on Friday’s show.

“This time, he didn’t [bounce back] and not only did he not, you’re sitting there down 21-3 midway through the second quarter against a team that had scored 13 points in the last three games,” Dickerson said, via the New York Post. “You got embarrassed in back-to-back weeks. That tells me his guys that used to buy in, he’s lost that now. And so what else is there? That was a must-win game against the dregs of the NFL society. He’s lost, in my opinion, this team, so he’s gots to go.”