The Pittsburgh Steelers have no plans to move on from Mike Tomlin, according to Adam Schefter and Gerry Dulac, but that doesn’t necessarily close the door completely on a change. The loss happened less than two days ago, and the Steelers are undoubtedly still plotting a path forward. That includes planning with Tomlin, with GM Omar Khan, and with the ownership group separately.

Given the mounting frustration last year, which led to unprecedented levels of offseason change, I would expect frustration to be even higher this time around. Someone’s head is metaphorically going to need to roll for this latest playoff disaster. That is where things could get tricky.

“I don’t think the Tomlin trade happens yet, but at some point, it might,” an anonymous league exec told Mike Sando of The Athletic. “Everybody will disappear for a few days, but then somebody is going to ask about staff changes, and if Tomlin bows up, that is when there could be problems. That’s what happened with Pete Carroll in Seattle last year.”

It isn’t uncommon for head coaches to be asked to blow up their coaching staff as a condition of moving forward with the team. At some point, ownership needs to feel like changes are being made in a positive direction. But what changes can be made that would have a realistic impact? And might some of those changes threaten Tomlin’s authority over the game plan on both sides of the ball?

Ever since Dick LeBeau departed in 2014, Tomlin has been in control of the defense. It’s not uncommon for a defensive head coach to call and control the defense, but even more so when the head coach has been around for almost two decades with the same team. The Steelers went from Keith Butler to Teryl Austin at defensive coordinator after LeBeau. There have been some schematic changes, but Tomlin’s fingerprints have been all over it the whole time.

“When is the last time we have praised their game planning or design?” said another anonymous exec via Sando.

If ownership asks him to fire Austin and bring in an external DC with a little more control, could that cause Tomlin to “bow up”, as the exec put it. It wouldn’t be the first time that a head coach pushed back on staff changes. Mike Munchak was fired in Tennessee for that very reason. Could that then start the rift with ownership that leads to more serious considerations of a trade?

Schefter reported that one team already reached out, so they have to at least have the idea in the back of their minds.

Keith Butler retired on Jan. 22, 2022. Randy Fichtner was informed he would not return on Jan. 14, 2021. The next week or so of staff changes could be telling for what may or may not be happening behind closed doors in Pittsburgh.

I still lean toward a trade involving Tomlin not happening, but I don’t think reports that come less than 24 hours after yet another playoff disaster can be fully trusted, either.