The Pittsburgh Steelers have fallen into mediocrity. It did not happen overnight and is not the first time in the Super Bowl era. After the dominant decade of the 1970s, the Steelers started to slip under Chuck Noll. In the first half of the 1980s, the aging Steelers dynasty managed to challenge for the AFC Central and won two division titles in 1983 and 1984.
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Steelers quarterback Mark Malone started highest scoring AFC Championship game a 45-28 loss to the Miami Dolphins
Pittsburgh made its final AFC Championship game appearance under Noll after the 1984 campaign. Pittsburgh lost to Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins 45-28 in what is still the highest-scoring AFC Championship game of all time. In 1985, the Steelers fell below .500, won only seven games, and missed the playoffs.
The year of 1986 was even worse, with a six-win season. Noll’s seat was starting to get warm, but in 1987, the Steelers managed eight wins. However, after back-to-back losses in the final two games against the Houston Oilers and Cleveland Browns, they missed the playoffs for the third year in a row. Behind the scenes, Dan Rooney and Noll’s relationship was deteriorating.
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Steelers Tony Dungy And Chuck Noll
In 1988, the Steelers posted their worst record since drafting Terry Bradshaw in 1970. It remains Pittsburgh's worst record in the half-century since the Immaculate Reception. The Steelers missed the playoffs for the fourth season. Noll was ready to quit, and Rooney was prepared to fire him. Joe Greene intervened and got them both in a room together where a compromise was reached, and a messy divorce was averted.
The long-time Steelers coach was forced to purge nearly his entire coaching staff, including Tony Dungy. The change worked, and the Steelers returned to the playoffs in 1989. Noll pulled off one last playoff miracle by beating his nemesis Jerry Glanville and the hated Oilers. The four-time Super Bowl champion retired two seasons later under his agreement with Rooney to end his tenure as the Steelers coach after 23 seasons and 193 wins.
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Former Steelers Head Coach, Bill Cowher (left) yells in the face of his quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (right) on the sidelines. Peter Diana / Pittsburgh Post Gazette
The Steelers began 2023 without posting a losing season since Bill Cowher went 6-10 in 2003. It was also the fourth time in six seasons he missed the playoffs. Cowher was under pressure, but the 2004 draft delivered Ben Roethlisberger, and the Steelers made three Super Bowl appearances under Cowher and Mike Tomlin over the next eight years.
Tomlin is, in a way, a branch of the Noll coaching tree. Unlike Noll, he is not a brilliant tactician. Tomlin is excellent at maximizing the individual performance of his players. He is terrific at dealing with reporters and the coach everybody wants to play for. Like Noll, the only problem is that he has slipped into a comfort zone of employing substandard assistants.
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Steelers Team President Art Rooney II and Head Coach Mike Tomlin oversee practice during the 2021 minicamp in Pittsburgh.
Tomlin might have the magnetism to attract top free agents for the Steelers, but his evaluation of assistant coaches has been exposed. Art Rooney II intervened when Bruce Arians was dismissed, forcing Tomlin to hire Todd Haley. Since Haley left in 2018 and Dick LeBeau departed in 2014, Tomlin has hired a steady stream of ever-worsening coordinators and coaches.
The Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 Divisional Round of the playoffs, where they failed to score a touchdown in an 18-16 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Tomlin and the Steelers are doing fans a disservice. The biggest issue is that ownership cannot or will not intervene to save the coach from himself.
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Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada is under heavy fire
The 2023 Steelers Need A Front Office Member To Intervene
It doesn't matter at this point who fought for Matt Canada behind closed doors. The current iteration of the Steelers doesn't do that kind of finger-pointing. Blame is not going to be assigned publicly. The only solution is for Omar Khan to step into the role the former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland filled for the organization.
When the Steelers went off the rails in 1988, Rooney got them back on track. Khan is the only person currently in the organization who could fill that role and keep the organization humming. Tomlin won't like it, but at this point, he has to face reality. He is terrible at hiring assistants and needs help. If he accepts it and allows Khan to quietly restock his staff, the Steelers will return to relevance and start competing for AFC Championships again.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Should the Steelers allow Khan to right the ship and help Tomlin pick his assistants? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.
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