{"id":693031,"date":"2026-01-21T06:05:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/693031\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T06:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:05:15","slug":"perspective-of-an-average-steelers-fan-the-tomlin-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/693031\/","title":{"rendered":"Perspective Of An Average Steelers Fan: The Tomlin Timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers are hiring their fourth head coach since 1969 after Mike Tomlin stepped away from 19 years at the helm. Tomlin was hired in January 2007 following Bill Cowher\u2019s resignation after the 2006 season. Art Rooney II led the head coach search with his father, Dan Rooney, as chairman, and General Manager Kevin Colbert interviewed the candidates with him.<\/p>\n

Here is a timeline of the hiring process.<\/p>\n

An Era Ends<\/p>\n

December 31st, 2006 \u2013 The Steelers end the 2006 regular season on New Year\u2019s Eve, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-17 in overtime on December 31, 2006, to finish 8-8, just one season after winning the Super Bowl. They finished the second half of the season 6-2 to reach .500.<\/p>\n

January 1st \u2013 Bill Cowher confirms he would announce his return, or departure, within a week. Rumors had circulated earlier that he might step away after 15 seasons as head coach.<\/p>\n

January 4th \u2013 An article in the Grand Forks Herald speculates that Tomlin could be a head coach candidate for Pittsburgh if Bill Cowher departs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

January 5th \u2013 On Friday, Bill Cowher steps down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers after 15 seasons. Cowher cites wanting to spend more time with family as the reason.<\/p>\n

First Interview Round<\/p>\n

January 6th \u2013 Ken Whisenhunt (44 years old) and Russ Grimm (47) emerge as in-house favorites to take over. Both candidates already interviewed for other vacancies. Whisenhunt interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons and the Arizona Cardinals, with another scheduled with Miami. Grimm interviewed with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

January 6th \u2013 The Steelers have their first interview with Ron Rivera, the defensive coordinator of the Bears, since Chicago is on a Wild Card Bye. Highly considered, Rivera\u2019s interview also fulfills the Rooney Rule requirement.<\/p>\n

January 8th \u2013 The Steelers interview Russ Grimm, who then flies to Arizona for an interview with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

January 9th \u2013 The Steelers interview Ken Whisenhunt.<\/p>\n

January 10th \u2013 The Steelers conduct the first interview with Mike Tomlin. Just two days before, he had interviewed with the Dolphins. Despite having just one year of experience as the Vikings\u2019 defensive coordinator at age 34.<\/p>\n

January 12th \u2013 Arizona Cardinals conduct a second interview with Whisenhunt.<\/p>\n

January 13th \u2013 Steelers interview fifth candidate Chan Gailey (55) a late addition. A former WR coach and offensive coordinator under Cowher who left Pittsburgh to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Second Interview Round<\/p>\n

The Steelers planned to conduct second interviews, 10 days after Cowher\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

January 14th (Sunday) \u2013 Ken Whisenhunt accepts the Arizona Cardinals\u2019 offer to be their head coach, removing him from contention.<\/p>\n

January 15th (Monday) \u2013 The Steelers announce three candidates to be interviewed a second time. Russ Grimm, Mike Tomlin, and Ron Rivera. But Rivera cannot be interviewed until their season ends. Gailey does not progress to the next round but is a finalist for the Miami Dolphins\u2019 head coach job.<\/p>\n

January 16th \u2013 Tomlin\u2019s second interview.<\/p>\n

January 17th \u2013 Russ Grimm\u2019s second interview.<\/p>\n

January 21st (Sunday) \u2013 Bears defeat New Orleans Saints 39-14 in the NFC Conference Championship. That meant Ron Rivera was unavailable for the second interview until 5 February after the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

January 22nd \u2013 The Steelers announce Mike Tomlin as the franchise\u2019s 16th head coach.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

NFL Head Coach Vacancies Filled Before 2007 Season<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals \u2013 Ken Whisenhunt replaced Dennis Green.<\/p>\n

Atlanta Falcons \u2013 Bobby Petrino replaced Jim Mora.<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys \u2013 Wade Phillips replaced Bill Parcells.<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins \u2013 Cam Cameron replaced Nick Saban<\/p>\n

Oakland Raiders \u2013 Lane Kiffin replaced Art Shell.<\/p>\n

San Diego Chargers \u2013 Norv Turner replaced Marty Schottenheimer.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers \u2013 Mike Tomlin replaced Bill Cowher.<\/p>\n

The media speculated on other potential candidates for the Steelers\u2019 job, including Kirk Ferentz, who is still Iowa\u2019s head coach, Jim Caldwell, Colts assistant head and quarterbacks coach, and Mike Sherman, former Packers head coach. But the Steelers never mentioned them. The Colts played the Bears in the Super Bowl, so Caldwell would not have been available until February anyway.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

The timeline shows that Mike Tomlin was an early candidate to be the Steelers\u2019 head coach. But Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm had the inside track. All three interviewed for other head coach vacancies. So, they were hot commodities.<\/p>\n

Ron Rivera received early consideration. But the Bears\u2019 success prevented a second interview before February. Perhaps losing Whisenhunt to the Cardinals pressured the Steelers to pull the trigger instead of waiting. Or Mike Tomlin impressed them so much that they did not feel the need to wait. Most likely a combination.<\/p>\n

Art Rooney II was 54 when he led the search in 2006. His father, Dan, and GM Kevin Colbert actively participated in the interviews and selection process. Today, the Steelers\u2019 heir apparent, Daniel Martin Rooney, is just 36. So, the search committee primarily includes Art and current GM Omar Kahn. But young Dan is surely in the background, gaining experience. I hope he is 54 when the Steelers hire their next head coach.<\/p>\n

Your Song Selection<\/p>\n

I always like to include a bit of music. It\u2019s been a long time since the Steelers hired a head coach. Hope it\u2019s been longer before we hire the next one. Here is It\u2019s been a long, long time<\/a> performed by Kitty Kallen with the Harry James Orchestra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers are hiring their fourth head coach since 1969 after Mike Tomlin stepped away from 19…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,1255,6,520,57,2360,426,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-693031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-mike-tomlin","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-steelers","15":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115931586701659732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}