After 19 years, a long, successful era of Pittsburgh Steelers football is over as Mike Tomlin stepped down on Tuesday following the AFC Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n
That decision was one that might have been coming for a while, regardless of what transpired this season, at least based on what Tomlin\u2019s close friend Ronde Barber said.<\/a><\/p>\n Still, the decision was shocking as Tomlin was a staple in Pittsburgh and a pillar in the NFL landscape. Now, he\u2019s walking away from the game \u2013 for now. Change is coming for the Steelers, change that many in the fan base and even some in the media have been clamoring for in recent years.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh hasn\u2019t won a playoff game since 2016. The Steelers have had double-digit playoff losses in five straight trips to the postseason and have gone one and done seven times in a row. It has been rather ugly in January for the Steelers under Tomlin.<\/p>\n Now, a new era is set to commence, one that brings hope for the fan base.<\/p>\n For The Athletic columnist Mike Jones though, Steelers fans should be careful what they wished for with a change from Tomlin, considering he never had a losing season in his 19 years and always had the Steelers right in the mix for the playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so began a new chapter in the storied franchise\u2019s history. Now the boobirds get what they wanted. A fresh start and visions of brighter days and dreams fulfilled,\u201d Jones writes of the Steelers post-Tomlin.<\/a> \u201cThey should be careful what they ask for, though.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no guarantee the Steelers will similarly rebound under Tomlin\u2019s successor.\u201d<\/p>\n There is no guarantee that the grass will be greener without Tomlin leading the Steelers. But there\u2019s also that old saying that the grass is greener where you water it.<\/p>\n Change can be difficult, and this is big change for the Steelers. Nineteen years with Tomlin at the helm is not something that you just brush off and move on from in the blink of an eye. He has his ties through the whole organization, top to bottom. There\u2019s a way things have operated year after year under him.<\/p>\n Making changes to that is going to take some time. Habits are going to need to be broken. Plus, the roster is going to undergo changes, too. There might not be a full roster purge to shape things the way the next head coach wants things, at least right away, but there will be new faces coming into the mix, and familiar faces leaving.<\/p>\n That\u2019s how the NFL cycle works.<\/p>\n