The noise around Mike Tomlin is as loud as it’s ever been. It isn’t certain that the longtime Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and Super Bowl XLIII champion will be back after this season, especially if his team continues its nosedive.
The Steelers have been the most patient team in professional sports with their leaders, having only had three head coaches — Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Tomlin — since 1969, the same year as the moon landing. If Pittsburgh finally does move on, Tomlin could be replaced by some high-profile candidates.
Marcus Freeman
Freeman isn’t even a year removed from steering Notre Dame to an appearance in the College Football Playoff national championship game. Before the Fighting Irish learn what’s next on their schedule, the fourth-year head coach has put together a 43-12 record in South Bend, including a 24-4 mark over the past two go-rounds.
However, Freeman’s next NFL job will be his first. The 2024 Bear Bryant Coach of the Year has a defensive background and will be 40 years old next month. While not as young as Tomlin was when he took the headset for the Steelers, Freeman fits a similar mold.
Dan Lanning
Lanning does have Pittsburgh ties. He began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant under Todd Graham with Pitt in 2011.
Since then, Lanning has climbed the ladder to join college football’s elites, taking charge at Oregon. Last season, the Ducks were the only FBS team to go undefeated in the regular season and were boosted to a No. 1 national ranking for the first time since 2012. They won a Big 10 crown in their first season in the once-Midwestern-based conference.
While Lanning was involved in its defense, Georgia had top-2 units in the SEC from 2018-21, including the nation’s third-ranked resistance in 2019 and second-ranked in 2021.
With Nike magnate Phil Knight’s financial backing, Lanning is currently in one of the most advantageous positions in his sport. It would take a historic franchise such as the Steelers to peel him away.
Nate Scheelhaase
It’s hardly ever a bad idea to entrust an offense with a guy who worked under Sean McVay.
Scheelhaase, the Los Angeles Rams’ pass game coordinator, has helped 37-year-old Matthew Stafford look like an MVP candidate. Entering Week 14, the Rams have the fourth-best passing attack (246.6 yards per game) in the NFL.
Stafford’s 32 passing touchdowns currently lead the league. His 111.7 passer rating is the best of his 17-year career.
Scheelhaase’s name will become more widely-known during this head coaching cycle. If general manager Omar Khan and the Steelers are set on taking a quarterback early in the 2026 NFL Draft, they could prop him up early with Scheelhaase at the helm.
Jesse Minter
Minter is familiar with the AFC North. He spent his first four seasons in the NFL (2017-20) working under John Harbaugh with the Baltimore Ravens.
Now the Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh, Minter has proven to be an emerging mind. He followed the head coach to the West Coast after serving as Michigan’s defensive designer from 2022-23. During his first go-round in Ann Arbor, Minter was a finalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to college football’s assistant coach of the year.
As the Wolverines stomped to the College Football Playoff national title in 2023, Minter fielded a defense that was tops in the country in per-game averages of yards allowed (247.0) and opponent first downs (13.3).
With Minter in the fold, the Bolts have the third-best defense in the NFL in terms of yards allowed per game (275.3) entering Week 14.