Steelers assistant could help Mike Tomlin with replays, clock management
Art Rooney II is open to the Pittsburgh Steelers delegating an assistant coach to handle replay challenges and clock management issues for coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin has not won a replay challenge in two seasons and he has come under criticism for use of timeouts and clock strategy in the waning moments of games.
“I agree that having someone with that responsibility is important,” Rooney said Wednesday in a meeting with select reporters. “Mike and I have talked about that. I’m not sure that’s the only thing that person needs to do. It would have to be somebody who is on staff that has a role to fill there.
“Whether we have the right people, we’re looking at that. It’s fair game for discussion.”
Rooney said the Steelers are done subtracting coaches from Tomlin’s staff. Running backs coach James Saxon and outside linebackers coach Joey Porter did not have their contracts renewed. Offensive line coach Mike Munchak, whose contract also had expired, left the Steelers to join the Denver Broncos so he could be closer to his family.
“We tried to keep Mike,” Rooney said. “We had every intention of keeping him. It’s obviously losing a great football coach, but I understand his reasoning. Wish him all the best and appreciate everything he did when he was here. These things happen.”
The Steelers promoted Shaun Sarrett to replace Munchak. The other positions haven’t been filled.
“I don’t expect any other changes in that regard,” Rooney said. “Additions but no other changes.”
Tomlin has two years left on his contract, and he has received contract extensions at similar stages of his career. Rooney indicated that Tomlin’s contract situation will be addressed in the summer. His previous extension came during training camp.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said.
The Steelers missed the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, and Rooney said Tomlin shares in the blame along with “coaches, players, scouts, front office.”
“I think everybody knows we need to be better, including Mike,” Rooney said. “There are no disagreements in the organization on that.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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