Mike Tomlin Replacements: 3 PERFECT Candidates To Be The Next Head Coach Of The Pittsburgh Steelers

Mike Tomlin Replacements: 3 PERFECT Candidates To Be The Next Head Coach Of The Pittsburgh Steelers

[Music] Today on Steelers Talk, we’re going to be talking about my list and my uh preferred options for the Pittsburgh Steelers to be their next head coach. That is if uh the Rooney family and the Pittsburgh Steelers decide to move on from head coach Mike Tomlin at the end of the 2025 NFL season. Now, before we get into uh you know, my list today and the top guys that I would consider if I were the Pittsburgh Steelers, kick us off down there in the comments section by letting me know the percent chance that Coach Tomlin is back next season. So, put it on a scale of zero, meaning no chance he’s back, he’s getting fired, he’s getting traded, no chance he’s back next year to 100%, meaning he is definitely coming back. No chance he gets traded, no chance he gets fired, no chance he retires, he will be back in 2026. Let me know what your answer is down there in the comments section. Um, and let’s get into it, man. Now, before I start, and before I start with the candidates here, I do think Mike Tomlin will be back in 2026, or at least I think that’s the most likely scenario. I still think the Steelers are going to finish uh with at least a winning record this year and, you know, potentially getting to that 10- win mark. And, uh, maybe, you know, maybe make the playoffs and maybe even win a playoff game. And, you know, if they make the playoffs again this year, guys, and they get another 10- win season, he’s not going to get fired. plain and simply, unless he retires or steps away from the team, uh the team’s not going to let him go. Even if a team is offering like a a hall of draft picks, they’re not going to let him go. Um and you know, if if you’re going to replace Mike Tomlin, and I see this a lot on Steelers Twitter, like, oh, if you want to fire Tomlin, who are you going to bring in instead? Well, here’s the my my criteria that I would want if the Steelers are going to replace Mike Tomlin with somebody, I want these three things. Number one, I want a charismatic leader of men. All right? Right. Mike Tomlin is one of the most charismatic people in all of sports. Uh which is why his players will go to bat for him time and time and time again. It’s why players uh every single year when they when they poll which coach you want to play for the most that you haven’t played for yet, every single time it’s Mike Tomlin. All right. The players love him. Um you know they they love the motivation that he brings to uh the locker room and to the meeting room every single week and every single season. Um you know if there’s anybody’s who anybody whose voice never gets stale in a locker room, it is Mike Tomlin’s. Okay. Also, I want somebody that is capable of building an excellent staff. I mean, I think that this element of head coach decisions is goes completely underrated. I mean, the it’s not just the head coach guys. They got to put themselves and surround themselves with really good people. And honestly, this has been one of the downfalls of Mike Tomlin as a head coach here in Pittsburgh is that he has surrounded himself and has chosen to hire people that are incompetent. Um, and you know, certainly if you’re going to replace him, I want somebody that can build an excellent staff. And then the final thing that I want is I want somebody that’s an innovative mind on his side of the ball. So whether that’s an offensive-minded guy, whether that’s a defensive-minded guy, I want somebody that not only can command the respect of the locker room, not only can build a great staff, but can also uh you know, mentally speaking and and schematically hold their own on their side of the ball with the best of them in the league. Okay? And for me, there are only three candidates out there right now that quote unquote have all of it. All right? Now, you know, there’s a lot of candidates that have two of these things or one of these things and you know, those guys would be perfectly fine. But in terms of finding really, really ideal candidates for this team, I think it boils down to three guys at least in my opinion. Now, the first one that we’ll talk about today is somebody that I’ve already discussed on the channel, and that is Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. And you know, this one really hearkens back to when the Steelers did hire Mike Tomlin, right? Because Tomlin, before getting hired as the Steelers head coach, was the Vikings defensive coordinator. Um, so that kind of hearkens back to that. Also, Flores, you know, spent a year here in Pittsburgh learning uh, you know, the quote unquote Steeler way. He’s got that instant credibility inside the Steelers locker room already because TJ Watt already knows what Flo’s about. All right, Cam Hayward already knows what he’s about. All these guys, Joey Porter Jr., right? All these guys that played that season uh, with uh, Brian Flores here in Pittsburgh, they know what he’s about and the leadership will have his back 100%. Not only that, but he’s a big personality and he has a bunch of charisma. All right. Uh he’s somebody that can command a room. Uh he’s somebody that uh you know, it just doesn’t matter where he’s at. New England, Miami, Minnesota. People talk about his personality personality, how he’s a players type of guy and he’s a guy that players want to play for. Also, he’s an absolute defensive mastermind, man. Like the way that he uses palms and quarters and uh cover zero and the and the sim pressure looks that he sends. Like he is an absolute mastermind, guys. And you know, if you’re looking for that modern NFL defense, that’s what Brian Flores would bring uh as the defensive play caller here in Pittsburgh. And then also, he’s got ideal offensive coordinator connections as well. I mean, he’s in Minnesota right now and he could pluck the next hot shot Kevin Oonnell, Shawn McVey disciple right out of the Minnesota ranks. And it could even be like a guy like Josh Macau, for example, who has been highly coveted for offensive coordinator uh position. So, I think that Flores brings it all. Now you might be saying at home, “But Jack, he failed in Miami and apparently he bullied to a tongue of Aloa” and all this different stuff. Can he really develop a young quarterback? Because that’s going to be a big part of the job of the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers if they move off of Mike Tomlin. And I think the answer to the question is yes. Not only is the offensive coordinator that he brings over from the McVey, Kevin Okonnell tree, going to be in charge of a lot of that development uh for that young quarterback, but also I think Brian Flores has softened a little bit and has become more of a players focused coach instead of the Bellichian tyrant type of coach that he came into Miami with. Because before he went to Miami, he spent like 12 years in New England under Bill Bellich’s thumb and that’s all he knew about NFL coaching. All right? like that’s the only style of coaching that he was aware of was to completely tyrannize your team and your coaching staff the way Bellich did in New England for many years. But now he spent a year in Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin and KOC for many years in Minnesota who do things a lot differently. Man, they they respect their players. Um, you know, they they they treat them as, you know, co-workers and uh and partners in crime there instead of, you know, underlings. And I think that that has been really good for Brian Flores’s development as a leader, as a person. And uh I think that he I think he would crush it as a leader of of a new NFL franchise. Uh and I also think that he did a pretty decent job in Miami. Now, was he perfect? No. But u you know, at least in his u according to his testimony in his lawsuit against the National Football League right now, he accuses Steven Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, of asking him to tank. And you know that probably means that Steu uh you know um uh the GM there uh Chris Greer was actively tanking during that time and he took those practice squad level defenses and turned them in top 10 units like Brian Flores you know took Lemons and turned them into Lemonade there in Miami and was very competitive throughout his time uh in South Beach. So, coming up here, got two other potential head coaching hires that I would be absolutely thrilled with if I am a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and I am. Uh, but before we get into all that, guys, let me know your answer to this question down there in the comment section for today’s pin question. Who would you like the Steelers to replace Mike Tomlin with next year if they move off of Coach T? This will be the pin comment on today’s show. Just a second here, I’m going to tell you about our new sponsor today at Cash App. And while I tell you about our new sponsor today, get down there in the comments section and let me know who you want to be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here on Steelers Talk, we are thrilled to be partnering with our new sponsor here on the show, Cash App. And the holidays are all about finding the perfect gift. But this time of the year, not every deal is actually what it seems. Scammers are getting more creative to trick people into sharing their payment info through methods like fake shopping sites and giveaways that are too good to be true. 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And a big thank you to Cash App for sponsoring today’s edition of Steelers Talk. The second head coaching candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers that I would consider a tier one guy, and I got three of them today, by the way, is Robert Salop, the 49ers defensive coordinator. Now, this is another guy that failed in a previous regime in the AFC East with the New York Jets and rather recently, but you know, I think that, you know, in terms of the three things that I want, Robert Salah brings that to the table. I think he is a very charismatic, high energy leader, uh, that could step into Mike Tomlin’s shoes and, you know, certainly could fill that could fill that role as that guy that can, you know, juice people up in in meetings and all that different stuff and lead the guys into battle. Also, I think he’s a very great modern defensive mind. He runs a lot of that too high safety stuff, but he also uh does a lot of modern blitz looks and he gets very creative. I mean, look at what he’s doing in San Francisco this year. Guys like losing Nick Bosa, maybe you know the best player on his team, then losing Fred Warner, the other best player on his team. They’re still playing great football, man. So, uh he can certainly uh you know, get Lemons, turn it into lemonade, do all that stuff, can take injuries and still get production out of his guys. Uh but also he’s got connections to high-end OC candidates as well, man. like he comes from San Francisco there obviously and he certainly got some connections to those people in the 49ers building including some people that formerly was in the 49ers building there with Mike McDaniel who might be available to be an offensive coordinator for some team next year and in terms of just pure offensive play calling there’s very few people in the league that are better than McDaniel and the fact that Salah has that connection to McDaniel um you know I I think that he would be maybe the the more the most ideal offensive coordinator candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers out of any head coach that could be brought in here outside of just hiring a straightup offensive coordinator to be your next head coach. If you’re going to go with a defensive guy, you got to have somebody with connections to an excellent coaching tree on the offensive side of the ball. Mike McDaniel completely changed the career of Tuong Aloa. Got him paid a crap ton of money. Um I I would trust him with the development of the next franchise quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers 100%. Now, this one I’m going to go a little bit off the deep end here, man. But I think it actually would work. I’m going to go with Nick Sabin as my third tier one candidate here, the former Alabama head coach. Now, obviously, he would have to agree to come out of retirement. Obviously, he’s got a pretty cushy job uh there at ESPN and all that stuff. Uh but listen, man, he’s got so much going for him. Instant credibility inside Pittsburgh’s locker room. Uh you know, because of his connection to Bellich and then, of course, his track record in college football. is the greatest head coach in college football history. Um, you know, he’s got a legendarily high organizational standard as well. Uh, just go watch any of his motivational speeches if you disagree with me on that. Uh, most people talk about how great of an organization Nick Sabin runs and he holds people to an extremely high standard, which I want here in Pittsburgh. Also, an extensive staff would be certainly built here in Pittsburgh under Nick Sabin. got so many connections because uh the staff turnover was so high there at Alabama. He had to bring in new people almost every single year. So, there are coaches in every single coaching staff in the National Football League that he has connections to and he’d be able to maybe build the best coaching staff in the entire National Football League here in Pittsburgh. Also, a bunch of these players that played for Alabama that are currently playing played under Nick Sabin might love to play for him again. So he would be uh you know really good for in terms of free agency for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And then obviously his man-match defensive system that he ran uh in the league and then also uh at Alabama for all those years has helped modernize NFL defenses. So it’s certainly a defense that can work here in Pittsburgh. And then you know Brian Dable would be my ideal offensive coordinator under a Nick Sabin hire here. He worked under him at Alabama. Of course, Dable is now uh you know, free to work for whoever he chooses after he got fired from the New York Football Giants. U obviously, he helped develop Josh Allen into the quarterback that he currently is today. So, I love his system. Jackson Dart looks like a legitimate uh you know, franchise quarterback in just his rookie season there in New York. Brian Dable knows how to work with young quarterbacks. He’s also been a coordinator in college, so he knows uh how to make that transition for these young guys from college to the pros. He’s he’s coached in both. uh so he understands not only how to attack NFL defenses but understands the transition and uh what helps these young quarterbacks uh transition easily to the National Football League. So I think that would be a perfect hire as the next OC of this team. And according to Colin Coward in a report that he had back in July, he said it’s quote unquote the worstkept secret in the league that Sabin would take a call from the NFL if he had a top 10 pick. Now, maybe the Steelers won’t have a top 10 draft pick, but what that report tells me is that if the right situation comes up, then my then Nick Sabin would take the call and he would potentially decide to jump to the National Football League. And by the way, Nick Sabin grew up a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He grew up in West Virginia. I recently talked about this uh when college game day was at Acer Stadium and he talked about how he was a giant Steelers fan growing up. How great of a of a of a final, you know, act of a coaching career would it be to coach uh his longtime team uh that he’s been a fan of for years. And you know, in short, Sabin, you know, might come back for the right fit. And you know, maybe because he’s such a big fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he has been uh since he was a kid, uh you know, maybe this would be the dream job for him. and um with all the connections that he has in the league both player-wise and coaching wise uh with the with uh you know the great leadership that he brings to the table and the organizational standards obviously he’d have to agree to come out of retirement but out of all the teams that he could come out of retirement for I think the Steelers might be on that short list of teams that he might consider it for. So take your pick for me down there in the comments section between these three options which one would you like to hire as the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers? Type BF for Brian Flores, type RS for Robert Salah, or NS for Nick Sabin. Honestly, I would be thrilled with any of these guys. I think they’re all excellent candidates, guys. But let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. Now, we’ll kind of rattle off some more names that are kind of more uh NFL ccentric here. We’ll start with my second tier of guys, and I kind of split my second tier up into two separate areas. So, my so my second tier uh you know, my first portion here is fun new hires. So, these are younger guys that haven’t had chances to be head coaches in the league before, but they’re doing a great job right now around the league. That includes Clint Kubak, uh, who is currently coordinating the most explosive offense in the league there in Seattle. Chris Schula, the Rams defensive coordinator, doing a phenomenal job with a really young defense in LA. And then Jeff Hafley has done a really good job in his two years in Green Bay. Uh, and he’s he’s getting a lot of buzz to be a head coach somewhere um this upcoming season. Now, the only thing about these guys is that, you know, I’m not sure if they have the leadership chops. All right? Like, they’re younger guys. I’m not sure if they’re going to be able to step into uh Mike Tomlin’s meeting room and be able to and be able to command the respect of the players the same way that Tomlin does. So, you know, if I interview these guys and, you know, they’re certainly bringing the juice and I I think that they can command the respect of the players in the locker room, by all means, hire these guys. I think that they’re really brilliant uh minds on their respective sides of the football and I’d love to hire any of them as the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, you know, my second tier here in terms of the retreads, some guys that would make some sense. Mike McCarthy, the former Cowboys head coach. He’s from Pittsburgh. He understands uh the Steelers culture and the quote unquote Steelers way. Very successful head coach throughout his career. But if you’re looking for somebody to have success in the postseason, I don’t know if McCarthy is necessarily the best option in the world. He also has a lot of connections inside the National Football League, can build a good staff. Uh Cliff Kingsbury, the Washington Commander offensive coordinator. What I like about Cliff’s offense is that it’s a very easy offense for a young quarterback to come in, play right away, and have success in. We’ve seen that with Jaden Daniels and even Marcus Mariota. It’s a more collegeesque, air rated type of system. Marcus Mario has never had as much success in any offensive system in his pro career than he has had in this system with Cliff Kingsbury. So, I would think about him. Brian Dable, um, you know, like I said before, he’s somebody that understands that transition with young quarterbacks from the college game to the pro game. Uh, honestly, I think Joe Shane did a terrible job building him a roster. Now, obviously, he had a hand in that as well, but I think he’s a guy that if he gets a second chance, he could potentially have some success. And then Arthur Smith, you know, if you want to trade Mike Tomlin, I mean, Arthur Smith already has credibility inside the Steelers locker room. Uh, all those different things. And if the offense can kickstart it here at the end of the season, uh, maybe he could be a potential name to watch out for. Certainly getting some buzz from some other teams in the National Football League right now for head coaching positions. And then some intriguing names that I probably wouldn’t love, but, you know, I would consider. Bill Bich, obviously greatest head coach in the history of the National Football League. um you know certainly um you know could use his connection to Sabin to get you know some of Sabin’s guys from Alabama and build a staff here in Pittsburgh. Um you know it’s it’s a name to watch out for but I honestly don’t think it’s going to happen. John Gruden, I think that the game has kind of passed him by and honestly I think he’s a better media personality than a coach uh at this point in time. Jesse Miner, a really good defensive coordinator for the Chargers. I love his defensive philosophy. I’m not too sure if he’s going to be able to be a head coach in the National Football League and step into Mike Tomlin’s shoes from a leadership perspective. Um, but you know, that’s a possibility. Then Aiden Dur, the defensive coordinator from Seattle, uh, would certainly bring over, uh, the McDonald style of defense with two high safeties, uh, lots of safety play, you know, interchangeable players, that sort of stuff that we’re seeing all over the league. And then Clayton Adams, the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys. I mean, the Cowboys offense is awesome with Dak Prescott and George Pickkins and CD Lamb. and uh he’s a he’s an offensive line guy and he’s a one of the better offensive line coaches in the league. So if you’re looking for somebody to develop an offensive line, Clayton Adams might be somebody to consider as well. Uh but that’s going to be it for today’s edition of Steelers Talk by Chat Sports. Guys, if you are a real one, made it to the end of today’s show and you bleed black and gold, type those real ones down there in the comments section. We’ll give you some love down there in the comments section if you do. So that’ll be it for today’s edition of Steelers Talk by Chad Sports. I’ll see you guys next time. Until then, guys, here we go. Steelers. [Music]

Today’s Steelers Talk by Chat Sports covers HC Mike Tomlin replacements for 2026. If the Steelers were to move on from head coach Mike Tomlin, who would be brought in to replace them? Jack Sperry breaks down replacement options including Vikings DC Brian Flores, 49ers DC Robert Saleh, and former Alabama HC Nick Saban.

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Put your Steelers knowledge to the test by giving us your take on today’s slate of Steelers questions:
– Percent chance Coach Tomlin is back next season? Scale of 0-100
– Who would you like the Steelers to replace Tomlin with next year?
– Take your pick for the next Steelers HC? Type ‘BF’ for Brian Flores, ‘RS’ for Robert Saleh, or ‘NS’ for Nick Saban.

More 2025 NFL talk from Sperry can be found on social media! Hit him up on X: https://x.com/jack_sperry

Tier 2A of potential Steelers’ head coach candidates:
– Klint Kubiak | Seattle OC
– Chris Shula | Rams DC
– Jeff Hafley | Packers DC

The 2025 NFL season will be pivotal for the Steelers! Subscribe to not miss a thing: https://www.youtube.com/SteelersTV?sub_confirmation=1

Interesting retreads:
– Mike McCarthy | FMR DAL HC
– Kliff Kingsbury | WAS OC
– Brian Daboll | FMR NYG HC
– Arthur Smith | PIT OC

Stay informed on the Black and Gold with daily articles from top sources like NFL.com, Ian Rapoport, Colin Cowherd, Adam Schefter and some others on the Chat Sports website: https://www.chatsports.com/pittsburgh-steelers

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Intriguing HC Steelers candidates:
– Bill Belichick | UNC HC
– Jon Gruden | FMR LV HC
– Jesse Minter | LAC DC
– Aden Durde | SEA DC
– Klayton Adams | DAL OC

Here’s some more Steelers YouTube segments for you to check out if you’re looking for more insight on the Black & Gold:
– Steelers Rumors: New Report Hints Mike Tomlin May Want ‘Change Of Scenery’, Titans May Be Interested – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZo1EsfirWc
– Steelers vs. Bills Preview: Keys To Victory & Score Prediction | Playoff-Caliber Test At Home – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWVgHpYcbuI
– Why The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Film vs. The Chicago Bears In Week 12 Surprised Me… – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xttLDg39qM4

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