Most of the AFC North will end up with a new head coach for the 2026 season, but perhaps some of the faces could stay the same. With Mike Tomlin departing from Pittsburgh, one analyst thinks former Baltimore Ravens HC John Harbaugh could make a lot of sense to replace him.
“If John Harbaugh would take that job, that’s the perfect replacement from an institutional point of view,” The 33rd Team’s Sam Monson said via Check the Mic. “One of the biggest risks if you’re Mr. Rooney, the owner, you have to be petrified that you are the guy that’s gonna screw up the head coaching hire when you have to make one because the last two guys didn’t…What if I hired the guy where there’s no saving it? It’s just a total and utter train wreck start to finish, and I have to break this run, and that’s like 60 years of history out the window because I was a jackass.
“What is the solution to that? Well, let’s hire a guy that was successful for 18 years just across the division.”
While I disagree that Harbaugh is the perfect candidate, Monson has an interesting line of thinking that will certainly go through the head of whoever leads the search in Pittsburgh. How do you keep up an incredible track record of three coaches over 57 years? More coach hires than not fizzle out after just a few seasons, if that. Art Rooney II, or whoever is leading the search, will have that top of mind when making the pick.
Could that steer them to making a “safe” decision like Harbaugh, whose proven track record is nearly as long as Tomlin’s? The Steelers’ history says that won’t be the case.
Their last three hires have all been defensive coordinators in their mid 30s. The Steelers have shown a preference for young, defensive-minded coaches over the years. You can’t have coaching tenures of 15-plus years if the coach hired is already in his mid-sixties. Harbaugh will be 64 right after the start of next season.
Historical precedent offers some hints, but nothing guarantees the Steelers dip into familiar waters. They have been slowly doing things differently over the last few years, and they could certainly change things up with the hiring process. The league looked a lot different last time they made a hire. It’s a new era, and the Steelers’ job is to ensure they hire the right guy for what is to come. Not just over the next three years, but over the next 10 or more.
A large part of the continuity in Pittsburgh is the Rooney family’s patience. That isn’t likely to go anywhere. Whoever they hire will be given time to settle into the job and carve out a legacy for himself. I don’t see that being Harbaugh, but Monson laid out some interesting things likely to go through the minds of the Rooneys as they conduct their search.