Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin broke his silence about his resignation Sunday, citing the team’s lack of playoff success as a major reason he decided to step down.
“There’s a loneliness with leadership. I just thought it was a good time for me, personally. And by that I mean just where I am in life,” Tomlin told NBC Sports’ Maria Taylor.
“And I thought it was a good time for the organization, to be quite honest with you. We didn’t have a lot of success in the playoffs in recent years. There’s just some veteran players there, man – guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and (Chris) Boswell – that I thought were worthy of the excitement and the optimism associated with new leadership.”
Tomlin was hired by Pittsburgh in 2007 and became the youngest coach in the NFL. He never had a losing season during his tenure with the Steelers, compiling a 193-114-2 regular-season record over 19 years. He won the Super Bowl in his second campaign leading the franchise and secured an AFC championship in his fourth season.
However, Tomlin and the Steelers struggled in the playoffs towards the end of his coaching run. They’re 0-7 in their last seven postseason games dating back to the 2016 season, including a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in his final game as head coach.