The Pomp And Joe Show
12PM - Art Rooney II isn't shocked that Mike Tomlin stepped away from the Steelers; Art Rooney II's thoughts on Mike Tomlin, Steelers future in a new era
14 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What did Art Rooney II say about Mike Tomlin's decision to step down?
Art II speaking to media over at the stadium. Even as we speak, why don't we go over some of the quotes here in Limits. We don't have them by audio yet, but we will. But people tweeting them out left and right. Give us some of the key ones.
Yeah, so there's a couple of things that have been put out there by Jerry Dulac saying that Art Rooney II was willing to take another run at it in 2026 with Mike Tomlin. And that's what I was expecting to talk about yesterday, Art told me.
the media regarding the conversation and yet he said he wasn't shocked that this happened either right that he was not shocked that this is ultimately what happened Rooney said that he wasn't shocked by the decision but he was quote wasn't expecting the conversation either he mentioned here was nearer to the end than the beginning you could see that coming I wouldn't say I was shocked
Bob, that sounds a little odd to me. But on one hand, you were expecting to run it back, yet you're not surprised he left. Now, Dulac also continues.
Hold on. Go ahead. What I want to say about that is what I told you at the beginning.
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Chapter 2: What were Art Rooney II's expectations for the Steelers' future with Tomlin?
I think there's a reason behind it. Whether he's going to spend more time with his family, it was just a burnout, a collective burnout.
No, I hear that, but Art said he expected to run it back, but he's also saying he wasn't shocked.
Well, then he must have known that he was feeling the way he was feeling. Then why did he expect to run it back? Go ahead, Limits.
I'm sorry I cut you off, Bob. I didn't realize your mic was off. My mic, I always forget to put it on. He's turned into Ron today. Dulac says Rooney said Tomlin gave him no indication he wants to continue being a head coach, quote, in the near future that doesn't seem to be on his radar, end quote.
That's what I told you. I think he's going to take some time, and whenever that happens, that happens. We'll see if he does television, but my gut tells me he's not going to do that.
Interesting.
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Chapter 3: How did Art Rooney II describe his conversation with Mike Tomlin?
Yeah, I mean, Schefter and everybody have been reporting that he won't coach this year, that he's not part of this coaching cycle. But you said, based on conversations you've had with him, just about the whole idea of being on TV, that he didn't seem like that was something he was after.
Right. He strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn't want to go through that whole thing. Even though it's easy money, to be honest, even though it keeps his face involved in the game, he's always going to be involved. If you take a year off, just look at Sean Payton's situation. Same thing. He did some TV.
I don't think Mike will, but I do think he will emerge in time as a head coach someplace else. That's in his DNA, and he wants to do that.
What else you got there, Limitless Wonder? Rooney's saying, I think it will most likely affect Aaron Rodgers' decision. He came here to play for Mike. So more questions around what the Steelers do at quarterback next year. Wait, can you repeat that? Yes. As Jeff Athorne put out there on our 93.7 The Fan Twitter, I think it will most likely affect Aaron Rodgers' decision that Tom will step down.
He came here to play for Mike. Yeah, I think the Aaron Rodgers era was one and done, Bob. Would you agree? I think that's pretty obvious. Who are you texting? Is that Art? No.
He's talking. He doesn't multitask. He might be. No. What was your question? I'm sorry. I don't remember. I had to respond to that one. What did I just ask him two seconds ago? About Aaron Rodgers. Oh, Rodgers is clearly one and done. Yeah, I think so. And regardless of even if Tomlin would have come back, I think he would have been one and done. I still think that.
Even though there were indications as the season went on that maybe there could be another year involved here. I think they owe it to themselves just to try to look in a new direction and develop. Developing quarterback is going to be a big thing, and I think whoever is the next head coach is going to have to do that.
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Chapter 4: What reasons did Rooney II give for Tomlin's departure?
They didn't do that so well here, and they need to do it. They need to develop much better at that specific position.
Maybe the most notable quote right now, Bob, is from Intern Dom. Did you see that one?
No.
You just fired one off. You ready for this, Limits? I don't know if I am if it's a Dom tweet. All of you who helped run Mike Tomlin out of town better hope the Steelers get the next head coach hire right. That's Intern Dom, to which our very own Josh Roundtree responds, not wing... Not winning a playoff game for nearly a decade is what ran Mike Tomlin out of town. I'm on the Roundtree tree there.
How about you? Fully agree. Roundtree is correct. Dom is out of touch. Well, Dom is cut from the Mike Greenberg cloth here in that Greenberg greenie from ESPN tweeting out, you know, I speak from experience as a Jets fan. You better be careful what you wish for. That type of thing. I wish for one competitive playoff game in the next nine years. Doesn't seem like much.
No, and I think it goes both ways on that too. I mean, you can make the right choice. Just look at what happened in this past offseason when you had coaching candidates like Ben Johnson, who was high on the list of a lot of people and immediately took that team to a different level. Vrabel, he was somewhat recycled, but he still had the knowledge that comes with moving on.
You can get it right pretty quickly and do some things that make that happen. Also, Liam Cohen, nobody thought he was going to be able to turn around. Now, I know they lost out at the end, Trevor Lawrence and... Justin Herber had been around for a long time, and none of them have anything to show for it.
So it is a difficult task, but I do believe that you can change things here within the next couple of years. It's not going to be overnight because I think the quarterback still has a lot to do with it. And if you don't get that right, eventually ā Yeah, man.
Again, I'll come back to this idea that this is a wildly attractive job. No quarterback, an aging ā and I might add, I didn't add this before, very expensive, an aging defense ā that's problematic.
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Chapter 5: How might Tomlin's decision affect the Steelers' quarterback situation?
When you hear it enough and it intensifies, it does affect your family. What else limits it?
Art did say that there is no one on the current coaching staff that is being considered a candidate to become the head coach. So Artie Smith or Terrell Austin, none of them are considered.
Again, it's not like it was when LeBeau and Arians were here. And they were key components of that at the time, and they wanted to keep them both, and they did.
I mean, Russ Grimm was going to be their coach until Tomlin blew them away in the interview. Was literally hired, basically, to be the coach. Basically, yes.
And then you go through this process, you just don't know who you're going to
Well, I'm glad to hear that Artie Smith won't be the next coach.
He also said it was going to be a matter of weeks. There are things in place that they can speed up, but also things in place that make them slow down this process. But the last three times they've done it, it's been rather quickly. So I don't know what ā they have a draft coming up too. They want to get this stuff done before that.
This person has a lot to do with what they do in the draft or will.
For sure. Anything else? Right now, we're going to listen to this whole thing coming up. Played it in its entirety for you. What else you got, O Limitless Wonder? Yeah, I mean, those are the main highlights of it so far. I saw the same thing that you did regarding this being more of a family decision than a coaching decision as well. And how will it ultimately affect Aaron Rodgers?
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Chapter 6: What insights were shared about potential head coach candidates?
Yeah, I like that.
I love the accent, too.
Any other jabs you want to throw out there? No, I just want the clips. Well, how about the full Art Rooney? How about the full Art Rooney? Do you have that? I have it. We'll do that next. Let's do it next. We'll start in on that next. Okay, Bob. Who does jump out to you? Marcus Freeman apparently having a 1 p.m. news conference today. He probably will say I'm here.
And he's going to get an announcement that he's made a lot more money. And I think he would be. Like I said before. He has that CEO type of mentality. That leadership that those guys. Plus he looks the role too if that matters at all. He's one of those guys you look to and you say that's a strong person. Walks into a room and owns the room.
That's the guy I'm looking for.
They've had a history of Brian Flores. I was going to say Tomlin brought him in and they let him go. A lot of people at the time thought he should have stuck around and take over the D.C. role. But he's a guy who I think has established himself as a very smart defensive guy. Can he, you know, then bring in the right people offensively? That'll be on him. I think, again, Shuler's a good one.
I also like... You know, this Matt LaFleur flirtation is interesting to me because I don't know where he stands with them, you know, in Green Bay. If he became available, would you be interested in him? Absolutely, I would be interested in him. We had a lot of people call us last night and say, look at what he's done in the postseason. I said, every coach has these blemishes on them.
Even the most successful ones have losses.
He doesn't have seven straight losses where they got blown off the field. They're usually very competitive even when they lose.
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Chapter 7: What timeline did Art Rooney II suggest for finding a new head coach?
Bob, are you inspired by the fact that Omar and Art will lead the search?
Well, he also said others. I think there'll be a lot of people involved, but they're going to be heading up the search. But I think they're probably going to want input from a lot of people. I think Andy Weidel is a guy, too, who will have input. I'm sure his son will have some input, too. Yeah, you know, again, Art II has been part of this. He was involved in the Cowher search.
He was involved in the Tomlin search, certainly. So, you know, he's been through this, and I know they utilized a lot of people in those other two searches. It wasn't just him. So, we'll see.
Any questions? Art, did you get any sense over the past couple weeks, months, that Mike was possibly leaning in this direction and... It was his decision. Well, it was his decision. And, you know, I will say that I wasn't shocked, but I wasn't expecting that conversation yesterday either.
So, you know, there were when you get to this stage of a career, obviously, he even mentioned it himself that he was nearer to the end than the beginning. And so, you know, You know, you could see that coming. And so, as I said, I can't say that I was shocked. I take everything I hear. This isn't just Steeler-centric.
It's everything I hear in pro sports or politics or everywhere else, look at with a very cynical eye. I wonder what went on behind the scenes. I always wonder.
And there's always more to every story.
I certainly know that. Yeah, of course. The Steelers themselves have put a nice face on situations where, to put it... Quite bluntly, a lot of people felt like they lied. Bruce Arians is a great example. He retired. We wish him well. No, he didn't. Art fired him. Not Mike, because Mike was ready to have him back. Art fired him.
A lot of people think Art stepped in and fired Matt Canada, that that wasn't Mike's decision. So call me cynical, and it doesn't matter in some ways because Mike is now done. But I just don't believe at face value everything I hear from Art or any, any owner, GM, coach in pro sports.
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Chapter 8: How did the hosts react to the implications of Tomlin's departure?
It's already 1 o'clock. Limitless has done an incredible job today, hasn't he, Bob?
Yeah, he has. The opening was sensational.
We missed the Kabaly thing. I want to play this for Kabaly. One of the highlights, I thought, of Tomlin's career and perhaps Kabaly's was at the owners' meetings last year or two years ago. No, it was last year because Kabaly asked Tomlin if he knew that DK Metcalf loved candy bars and Apparently we have the same appetite for candy, me and DK. You hear about that? No, I didn't.
Apparently he eats four or five candy bars a day. Really? Not me. That's what he said on a podcast. He wears it a little differently to you.
See, that's what I mean about he's got some pretty good wit, and he's a very funny guy that you don't often see.
He wears it a little differently than you. Kabaly and Metcalf, two different bodies, yes? Limits? I mean, I think their body types aren't as far off as people want to try to make them to believe. Maybe Kabaly catches that ball the other night?
That's like Austin's metabolism. He can eat whatever he wants to eat, and he's still thin.
Bob, I saw the guy eat a steak the size of Malzi's cranium the other day. And he would never know it. Yeah, and he's going to eat another one tonight when we celebrate our Marconi, isn't he? Bob's showing up late. He didn't even call in sick to show up at our car up.
No, I think I'm going to miss it because I have to work until 7. Call in sick. No, I would show up after 7, but if it's going to be discontinued and you guys are done, then what's the point? Call in sick.
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