PITTSBURGH — Steelers President Art Rooney II is speaking out a day after Head Coach Mike Tomlin resigned after a near two-decade stint with the team.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Mike Tomlin stepping down as Steelers head coach after historic 19-year tenure
In his press conference on Wednesday, Rooney said Tuesday was an emotional day for everyone in the organization.
“Mike’s been a great leader of our franchise for 19 years now,” Rooney said. “[He] led us with toughness, integrity and always reflected the values of our organization. The bottom line was we were always in contention with Mike, and that’s what counts.”
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Rooney emphasized that it was Tomlin’s decision to step down and repeatedly said it was a “family-related decision” over a “football decision.” Rooney said Tomlin indicated he won’t coach in the near future.
“I will say that I wasn’t shocked, but I wasn’t expecting that conversation yesterday, either,” Rooney said.
In fact, Rooney said he was “certainly willing to take another run at it next year” with Tomlin.
“That’s what I was expecting to talk about yesterday, but obviously, it went in a different direction.”
Now, the Steelers’ focus turns to finding the team’s next head coach — only the fourth one since 1969. It will be led by Rooney and Omar Khan, with assistance from others within the Steelers organization.
“[I] look forward to getting started with the search and starting with the next chapter of Steelers football,” Rooney said.
Rooney wouldn’t put an exact timeline on the search for a new head coach, only saying it will take weeks and they’ll get started right away.
As for what the team is looking for in a coach, Rooney wouldn’t put any parameters on it, although he did confirm no one already within the organization is a head coaching candidate.
“We’re going to be an open book in terms of who we look for and the list that we build,” Rooney said. “Could I sign up for another Chuck Noll, or another Bill Cohwer, or another Mike Tomlin, sure... for now we’re not going to narrow the box too much.”
There is a certain trait that Rooney wants to see.
“I think there are a lot of things that go into being a successful head coach. Number one, really, I think in my mind is leadership and really trusting that this person can stand up in front of your team day in and day out and hold their attention and have them motivated to do what they do,” he said.
The Steelers haven’t spent much time looking around the league for candidates, Rooney said. The organization will go into the search with an open mind, with one key question for the next coach being about the team’s roster, especially the quarterback position.
Rooney says the standard remains to “try and compete to win a championship every year.” And he expects to compete no matter what.
“We’ll try to compete day one if we can,” Rooney said.
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