Steelers President Art Rooney II on Mike Tomlin extension: 'It'll be done when it gets done'

For the past 17 seasons, Mike Tomlin has served as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. 17 seasons, 17 finishes of .500 or better.

And yet, Tomlin went about the last few months with speculation that the 2023 season could have been his last in Pittsburgh. The Steelers, for all their success under Tomlin, haven’t won a playoff game since 2016 and still haven’t truly found their successor to Ben Roethlisberger at the quarterback position.

While Tomlin will, in fact, return for the 2024 season, there’s no guarantee he remains in his role beyond then. The 51-year-old has one year remaining on his current deal and has yet to sign an extension. Steelers owner Art Rooney II addressed Tomlin’s contract status Monday but didn’t exactly offer an update on the timeline.

“It’ll be done when it gets done,” Rooney said, via Pro Football Talk. “Those things are hard to speculate how long it’ll take. At this point, I don’t see it getting done before the [offensive] coordinator’s hired. I think that’s going to happen sooner rather than later.”

Art Rooney II growing impatient, still believes in Mike Tomlin

The Steelers’ 2023 season came to an end in the AFC Wild Card Round — a 31-17 defeat to the Buffalo Bills. But considering Pittsburgh was working with third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph under center and the team rallied from being 7-7 at one point to make it into the postseason, an optimist could say that the Steelers’ season was a semi-success.

But those aren’t the standards in the Steel City. And with a 3-8 record in the postseason since their last Super Bowl appearance, patience is starting to wear thin.

“We’ve had enough of this,” Rooney said. “It’s time to get some wins. It’s time to take these next steps. There’s some urgency there, for sure.”

He added: “Certainly, there’s a resolve there and a determination there. And I think I said before, I think all of us that have been around for a little while are anxious to take this next step — and getting a little impatient — and we need to see the kind of improvement we all want to see. Mike believes that as firmly as anybody else in the building.”