James Harrison once again reignited his criticism of Mike Tomlin, saying on his podcast, “I have never been a person that thought Coach Tomlin was a great coach. I thought he was a good.” He added that his skepticism during his playing time, pointing to Tomlin drafting two outside linebackers immediately after Joey Porter left back in 2007.

Harrison didn’t stop there, diving deeper into his view of Tomlin’s coaching standards with the Steelers. “A good coach gets you to play to your potential. And right now…the players…they’re not playing up to their potential,” he said, arguing that the current roster is nowhere near the level he knows they can reach.

The retired linebacker then escalated the challenge, stressing that the team needs a change. “Something has to be done. I know the Steelers historically don’t move on from coaches, but I think it’s time that history be made,” Harrison said, urging the Steelers to consider a move he knows the franchise almost never makes.

NHL writer and Rex Ryan also take shots at Tomlin

Even an NHL writer for the Penguins dared to criticize Tomlin after the most recent game against the Bills. “Mike Tomlin will say something like, ‘We can’t eat soup with forks. We need spoons.’ Then the Steelers will sign a 2018 Pro Bowler to the practice squad,” wrote Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports on X.

Rex Ryan also hit Tomlin hard recently on an episode of Get Up, suggesting it is time for the head coach to move to another NFL team: “Do Mike Tomlin a favor and fire him. He would get a job anywhere else in the league in two seconds,” Ryan said.

Tomlin’s situation is genuinely bad; even the stats are working against him. “Mike Tomlin has now gone 62 straight games with 7 or fewer points in the first quarter, (64 games including playoffs), the longest streak by any Head coach before they were fired in NFL history,” reported Warren Sharp on X.

Colin Dunlap of KDKA Pittsburgh did not directly criticize Tomlin but recalled how the Eagles let go of a good coach to improve the team’s fortunes: “If the Philadelphia Eagles can part ways with Andy Reid, the Pittsburgh Steelers can sure as hell part ways with Mike Tomlin. Franchises wanting to ascend do things like that.”

Colin Cowherd also called for a change in Pittsburgh

“They’re old, the Steelers are expensive… Finally, the fans said, ‘Enough!'” was one of the phrases from the almost three minutes Cowherd dedicated to Tomlin, indirectly calling for a change and labeling him an “outdated” head coach, like Belichick, Ron Rivera, Pete Carroll, and Lovie Smith. Cowherd referenced the trend toward younger head coaches focused on offensive play, while the ‘outdated’ ones remain solely focused on defense.

Tomlin acknowledges the Steelers’ poor situation

Following the game against the Bills, Tomlin had to answer an uncomfortable question about the fans’ chants demanding his dismissal: “Man, I share their frustrations tonight. We didn’t do enough. That’s just the reality of it,” the coach responded, acknowledging both the Steelers’ poor situation and the feelings of the supporting fanbase.