Mike Tomlin Happy To Leave Steelers Before Breaking 1 Important Franchise Record

The Pittsburgh Steelers are entering a place they haven't found themselves in as a franchise in decades, knowing that they're potentially on the cusp of a full rebuild. After the Wild Card Round loss to the Houston Texans in which the Steelers allowed 23 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, along with the subsequent news of former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin deciding to step down, it was fairly certain that the Steelers would need to enter a full rebuild and start over from scratch. There's a lot the team still needs to accomplish, but in the meantime, many players have shared their own stories of experiences with Tomlin.

One of those players sharing their experiences with Tomlin is defensive tackle Cameron Heyward. Heyward has been with the Steelers since 2011, and has only ever known the franchise under Tomlin's leadership. As one of the longest tenured players with the Steelers, he has his fair share of interactions with Tomlin, and shared something new that shows a lot about Tomlin's character.

On the latest episode of Not Just Football With Cameron Heyward, Heyward himself went into details on an interaction he had with Tomlin after the conclusion of the Steelers' 2025 season. The memory he shared with Tomlin shows a lot about how Tomlin thought as a coach, and why Heyward has so much respect for him.

"I will share one thing he did say to me," Heyward said. "And I was like, 'How the h*** do you even think of this?' He was just like, you know, 'I'm glad I didn't beat [Chuck] Noll's record.' And I was like, 'Like who thinks about that?' I think they tied for most wins, and that's the respect that he's always had for the history and what Noll did, but man, it's gonna be pretty interesting going forward."

Heyward's remark on Tomlin being glad he didn't surpass former Steelers head coach Chuck Noll's record of most regular season wins by a coach in NFL history shows how Tomlin didn't want to replace Noll as the winningest Steelers coach. Instead, he was content with staying tied at 193 wins each. It shows that Tomlin respected what Noll did for the Steelers as a franchise, and how he wanted to ensure Noll's mark withstood the test of time while leaving his own, distinct mark on the Steelers.

Heyward has a lot of respect for Tomlin, and it raises the question on Heyward's future with the Steelers seeing as they're moving to hire a new head coach. While it could be possible that the team decides to move in a different direction under a new head coach and find a way to either trade or release Heyward, the likelihood that Heyward leaves due to the Steelers wanting him gone remains low. Heyward also has one year remaining on his contract, and trading or cutting him would certainly have a negative affect on the team.

With how Heyward has still been able to play at a high level throughout the season, it makes sense to keep him in 2026 and have him serve as the leader who could continue to embody the values Tomlin taught him and other key veterans. Heyward's comment about how things will be interesting going forward is also true, especially considering how much could change with a new head coach coming in.

Steelers' Head-Coaching Search Could Completely Reset Team Identity

With the amount of different names appearing in the Steelers' head-coaching interviews, there's a potential for the team to completely reset their identity with the right hire, with that being hiring someone with a background on offense, compared to defense. This could ultimately change how the team approaches whether to keep or release certain players, but even so, Heyward seems poised to stick around for at least one more year.

What did you think about Heyward's recollection of a memory with Tomlin? Let us know in the comments below.

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