Tomlin believed this season’s team was better positioned to compete with the NFL’s best teams, and the Steelers went 4-3 against playoff teams and 2-3 against teams still alive in the playoffs with victories against the Ravens and Commanders.
But they didn’t win in the playoffs, and that’s all that matters to Tomlin, who expressed disappointment with that fact.
“Part of that disappointment is I thought this collective was in a better position, maybe more so than in recent years, to not be in a similar situation, but we are,” Tomlin said. “There’s obviously a lot of work to be done to be completely honest with you. I’m excited to start the process because I’m a competitor. I love this game and this business, even when it’s is miserable. I have seen and experienced so much, I very rarely react to the current situation, whether positive or negative, because of the depth of the relationship I have with the game.
“I expressed it to the team yesterday, because it’s not only my job to lead the group and strategize etc., but also to give perspective. We have a lot of young guys who have played major roles, which have evolved in many areas I am delighted that they are continuing their individual journeys, improving them and positioning themselves better and better to be significant as we move forward.
This will involve numerous internal meetings and reviews in the coming days, weeks and months as the Steelers develop a strategy for 2025 that results in the desired results.
This process has already started.
“There are definitely changes that happen when we don’t get the outcome we want and those are just the realities of the business,” Tomlin acknowledged. “I imagine there will be things that change here on many levels, but it’s just this game, as I mentioned.
“I met with (team president) Art Rooney yesterday. I met with (general manager) Omar (Khan) yesterday, and those are just the very beginning of multiple conversations about how we surround certain lessons learned, analyzing some of the decisions made, personnel, strategy, etc., and these types of discussions happen on many levels How can we keep our team healthier This is a discussion that has been had. happened yesterday, for example. soft tissue that had a significant impact, and this is just one example of many things and topics that we have addressed and will continue to address as we evaluate what happened and as we let’s transform quickly and build for the future at the same time.”
