The Pittsburgh Steelers, for the first time since 2007, are without a head coach.<\/p>\n
Mike Tomlin resigned after 19 years at the helm on Tuesday, sending shockwaves through the NFL landscape. Now, the Steelers have to move on and find the fourth head coach in franchise history. Hopefully, this one will be around a long time like Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Tomlin have been since 1969.<\/p>\n
Names like Green Bay\u2019s defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Los Angeles Rams\u2019 defensive coordinator Chris Shula, and Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 defensive coordinator Jesse Minter have already been mentioned as potential names to watch for the Steelers<\/a> by ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler.<\/p>\n All three make sense as they fit the typical Steelers head coaching mold, as they are young defensive minds. Tomlin was that once, coming out of Minnesota before landing the Steelers\u2019 gig, as was Cowher in Kansas City and Cleveland.<\/p>\n For NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport, though, there is one name to watch as a \u201cwild card\u201d for the Steelers\u2019 opening. That would be Los Angeles Rams\u2019 passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, an up-and-coming star in the coaching industry who has plenty of experience in the Sean McVay coaching tree.<\/p>\n \u201cJesse Minter is a great one. Young, dynamic, someone who\u2019s got a long runway ahead of him. Here\u2019s a wild card: Nate Scheelhaase, the Rams\u2019 passing game coordinator,\u201d Rapoport said, according to video via NFL.com.<\/a> \u201cKind of fits the mold of Mike Tomlin, but on the other side of the ball, a dynamic personality. Someone that Sean McVay feels is going to be a future head coach. A bit of a wild card, someone who a lot of people aren\u2019t sure is ready, but someone who they believe eventually will be a great head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cKind of sounds like Sean McVay. Sounds like Mike Tomlin, Mike [Garafolo]. We\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n Scheelhaase makes a lot of sense as that young, up-and-coming offensive mind. He\u2019s just 35 years old and has just two years in the NFL. He was an offensive assistant and passing game specialist with the Rams in 2024. He was promoted to pass game coordinator this season.<\/p>\n Under his guidance in the passing game, the Rams had an explosive season. Quarterback Matthew Stafford put up an MVP-caliber season with 4,707 yards and 46 touchdown passes to just eight interceptions. Stafford led the Rams to a playoff win on the road over the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Wild Card, too, so the Steelers wouldn\u2019t be able to interview Scheelhaase right away, but the intrigue should be there.<\/p>\n Before his time in the NFL, Scheelhaase had a winding road in college football, very similar to Tomlin. After a playing career at Illinois, Scheelhaase was working in football operations and then the running backs coach for the Fighting Illini in 2015. He became an offensive assistant in 2016 and 2017 before moving on to Iowa State, where he spent the next six seasons, bouncing between roles as running backs coach, wide receivers coach, run game coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and offensive coordinator under now-Penn State head coach Matt Campbell.<\/p>\n