Sources say that Mike Tomlin has told the Steelers players that he wants to come back in 2024.

Sources say that Mike Tomlin has told the Steelers players that he wants to come back in 2024.

Sources told the Post-Gazette that Mike Tomlin told the players in an organization meeting on Tuesday that he wants to return as Steelers coach for his 18th season in 2024 and that they shouldn’t believe the stories that have been going around about his future.

A new deal for Tomlin is coming in the spring, which would keep him on the team at least until the 2026 season. At about $11 million a year, he is one of the best-paid teachers in the league.

Mike Tomlin told his players in a team meeting on Tuesday that he wants to be the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers next season.

Multiple players who participated in the meeting told The Athletic that he didn’t answer a question about this future after the team’s 31–17 loss to the Buffalo Bills within the AFC wild-card round because he thought that doing so would have given credibility to rumors that he didn’t believe were true.

NFL Network said that Mike Tomlin, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, told his players on Tuesday that he hopes to lead the squad in 2024.

There were rumors that Tomlin would step down after 17 seasons, but he denied them at the team meeting that afternoon after a 31–17 wild-card loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The 51-year-old Tomlin is about to start the last season of his deal. There was a question about his deal, and he quickly left the Monday news meeting after the game.

Tollin is now the NFL’s longest-tenured boss after Bill Belichick as well as the New England Patriots broke up this month. As of 2017, he has a 173–100–2 record in the regular season. He has never had a lost season.

The Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII immediately following the 2008 season, and Tomlin led them to that win. In 2023, they went 10–7 and made playoffs for the 11th time.

Mike Garofolo, an NFL writer, says that Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told his team on Tuesday that he has no plans to step down and will still coach the squad in 2024.

“One goal is all we want to do.” He only wants to work on one thing, which I agree with. Everyone likes to say things like, “He could be taking a year off.” This is something he might do. He has one year left.

“I wonder why he would answer that question.” He is stressed out about attempting to prevail in a playoff game, but we just lost a significant playoff game last night. Why does the need to talk about that now?

That’s not the right time or place, and I value the question. But I think Coach T has earned the right to have him focus on just one goal, and we have asked that query every week. It’s not fair with the process.”

Tomlin knows a lot about how the Steelers’ contracts work. In the past, the Steelers have extended managers’ contracts at least two seasons before the end of their contracts.

However, Tomlin signed a three-year deal in 2021, with one year left on his previous contract.

As the Steelers fought through a string of three consecutive losses in late 2023, rumors about Tomlin’s future grew. Questions about his management and accountability in the team’s dressing room were also asked.

Watt said, “I want to appear for Mike T.” “That was very important in my contract talks.” While Heyward praised his teacher for being consistent, he also said that he hasn’t seen any signs that his head coach has lost his drive for the job.

Yeah, Heyward said, “I think he’s going to take over as coach here. If anyone else thinks it should be someone else, they’re arguing for a lot more than that.” Mike T is a Pennsylvania Steeler and wants to be one.

Star pass-rusher T.J. Watt agreed with Heyward when he spoke for the first time since hurting his knee in the last game of the regular season.

Watt also said that there was nothing “groundbreaking” talked about at the short team meeting on Tuesday.

I only want to play for Mike T. You guys can tell by the way I speak of him how much I value and respect him as a teacher, a person, and a leader. That’s why I support him.