The Steelers, one of the NFL’s winningest and most venerable franchises, are at a crossroads after head coach Mike Tomlin quit Tuesday in the wake of another blowout playoff loss.

Tomlin, the league’s longest-tenured coach at 19 seasons, informed Steelers ownership that he is leaving, effective immediately. The move—though somewhat expected amid rising scrutiny around the coach—still represents a dramatic exit after 193 regular-season wins, 13 playoff appearances, 2 Super Bowl berths, and 1 league championship.

With the departure, the Steelers will be seeking just their fourth head coach since 1969 after Tomlin, Bill Cowher, and Chuck Noll, with that group combining for 6 Super Bowl titles.

Tomlin is now expected to be a highly coveted figure among NFL broadcasters.

“Obviously, l am extremely grateful to Mike for all the hard work, dedication and success we have shared over the last 19 years,” said Steelers president Art Rooney II. “It is hard for me to put into words the level of respect and appreciation I have for Coach Tomlin.”

The decision arrived just hours after the Steelers fell to Houston, 30–6 on Monday in the final NFL wild-card game, marking the team’s seventh straight playoff loss. Those games had an average margin of defeat of more than 15 points and Pittsburgh never held a second-half lead in any of them. 

Despite not having a losing regular-season record in the entire 19-season tenure of head coach Mike Tomlin—something that Rooney said will “likely never be duplicated”—Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since the 2016 divisional round.

That good-but-not-great run in recent years significantly amplified the impatience of Steelers fans, as Tomlin tied former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis for the longest postseason losing streak in NFL history. As the Texans put the finishing touches on their dominant victory Monday, Pittsburgh fans at Acrisure Stadium began a loud “Fire Tomlin!” chant. 

After that, though, Tomlin had nothing but praise for the intensity of Steelers fans.

“I want to also thank Steelers Nation. Your passion, loyalty, and high expectations represent what makes this franchise truly special,” Tomlin said in a statement regarding his exit. “Coaching in Pittsburgh is unlike anywhere else, and I will always take great pride in having been a steward of this team.”

Tomlin, who earned roughly $16 million annually, was under contract through the 2027 season. The agreement for the 2027 season, however, was a Steelers team option to be exercised by March 1. Ultimately, though, he mooted the entire situation with his decision to walk away.

Because Tomlin left while still under contract, though, the Steelers still have his coaching rights. Pittsburgh would be in a position to seek compensation from another team should he look to return to the sidelines instead of venture into broadcasting.

Tomlin’s departure extends a frenetic NFL coaching carousel that includes eight other open jobs, including in Baltimore, which last week fired John Harbaugh—Tomlin’s closest rival in NFL coaching tenure—after 18 seasons.

Quarterback Issues

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, also has a significant decision to make about who will play quarterback in 2026. A one-year, $13.65 million contract for future Pro Football Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers is now done. While Rodgers showed occasional flashes of brilliance that led him to four NFL Most Valuable Player awards, he ultimately was not able to change the team’s trajectory of the past decade. 

Rodgers has not made a decision about his future, and the Steelers’ quarterback depth chart includes backups Mason Rudolph and Will Howard, the latter being a 2025 draftee out of Ohio State. 

“I’m not going to make any emotional decisions,” Rodgers said after the loss to the Texans. “[I’m] disappointed, obviously. Such a fun year. A lot of adversity but a lot of fun. [It’s] been a great year overall in my life, and this is a really good part of that, coming here and being a part of this team. So, it’s disappointing to be sitting here with the season over.”

Rodgers, however, pushed back on the scrutiny surrounding Tomlin.

“Mike T. has more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years,” he said. “More than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change, but there’s a lot of pressure that comes from the outside and obviously that sways decisions from time to time. But it’s not how I would do things and not how the league used to be.”

There is optimism that the ESPN takeover of NFL Media can close in April—and therefore in time to take advantage of synergies for the 2026–27 season, when ESPN has the rights to the Super Bowl—industry sources told Front Office Sports.

Last August, the two sides announced that ESPN plans to acquire a collection of assets from the league, including NFL Network, pending regulatory approval from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. The NFL would also be acquiring a 10% stake in ESPN in the deal.

Spokespeople for ESPN and NFL Media declined to comment. 

ESPN and NFL Media have been preparing for two different timelines based on when the government approves the deal—if it’s approved—sources said. 

If the deal does get done by April, ESPN could take over the assets in time for next season. If the deal hits a snag and does not get approved until later in the year, ESPN would not take over until Jan. 1, 2027. 

The reason for the different timelines is that the deal’s closure—or lack thereof—affects the NFL TV schedule. If the deal clears early enough, ESPN would relinquish Monday Night Football doubleheaders but have a new inventory of 28 total NFL games per season (not including the Super Bowl). The NFL would also have four additional games, coming from NFL Network inventory, to bring to market and sell to other networks and/or streamers. 

While Trump and the NFL have been at odds on numerous occasions in their respective histories, the most recent public showing was a united front, as the president announced in May that the 2027 NFL Draft would take place in Washington, D.C. On the other hand, Trump has been at odds with ABC News, ESPN’s sister company under the Disney umbrella. 

Sources said ESPN executives recently did a site visit at NFL Network’s studios near SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area. The network is very excited about harnessing the facility if the deal clears regulatory muster. The site visit would be relevant for either of the deal closure timelines previously discussed. 

ESPN and ABC will air the Super Bowl at SoFi in early 2027. 

The Federal Trade Commission is launching a formal inquiry into agents who represent college athletes, the agency announced Monday.

The FTC has sent letters to 20 NCAA Division I schools asking whether their athletes’ agents have complied with the disclosure requirements in a 2004 law, the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (SPARTA). A spokesperson for the FTC told FOS that the FTC is not naming the schools chosen, as schools themselves aren’t the focus of the investigation. The 20 schools were chosen through a random selection process that emphasized schools with successful sports departments. The letter asks schools to reply by March 23.

“This inquiry is aimed at better understanding whether sports agents are complying with the law and the degree to which student athletes are being protected,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. 

Specifically, the organization is asking whether and when schools have received notification that their athletes have entered into agreements with agents, the name of the agent, and whether schools have “received complaints or reports about an athlete agent’s relationship with a student athlete.” The FTC added that college athletes and their families who have concerns about sports agents can submit complaints directly to the FTC.

With the inquiry, the FTC is potentially wading into what many consider a massive issue in college sports: a lack of regulation for agents who, many believe, have taken advantage of players by charging above-market rates or misrepresenting their ability to properly represent players.

In the pros, agents are certified through guidelines set by players’ associations and leagues. For example, the NFL Players Association sets requirements for agents to receive certification to represent NFL players, including background checks, minimum educational requirements, and a certification exam. But in college sports, there are no such guidelines. Because of antitrust concerns, the NCAA does not regulate agents or enforce rules. And while there are some state laws regulating agents in college sports, the uneven patchwork does not appear to have much teeth. 

SPARTA “makes it unlawful for an agent to directly or indirectly recruit a student athlete by giving any false or misleading information, making a false promise or representation, or providing anything of value to a student athlete, or anyone associated with the athlete, before he or she has entered into an agency contract,” the FTC’s website currently reads. 

Though the act was passed almost 20 years before the onset of the NIL era, it still specifically applies to “student athletes”—presumably because, at the time, college athletes could sign with agents before they entered the pros.

In a statement to Front Office Sports, NCAA SVP of external affairs Tim Buckley said the governing body “appreciates” the FTC’s actions. 

‘Questionable Behavior’

“One of the first priorities Charlie Baker identified when he became NCAA president was the challenging landscape for college athletes seeking to benefit from their name, image, and likeness, including and especially the challenges presented by nefarious actors seeking to serve as agents without the necessary legal expertise or commitment to serving their clients’ best interests,” he said. 

“With all of the reporting and commentary on unlicensed agents operating in the space and of athletes being taken advantage of, I think the FTC is using its authority under this law to try and clean up some of the questionable behavior taking place and to potentially weed out some of the bad actors,” sports attorney Mit Winter, who has represented dozens of athletes in NIL contract reviews, told FOS.

Winter added he believed the timing of the letters could have something to do with last week’s saga regarding Washington quarterback Demond Williams, who reneged on a multimillion-dollar NIL contract, lost his relationship with agency Wasserman, and then decided to stay at Washington. All the while, rumors flew that a California high school/college football coach, Cordell Landers, had involved himself in the decision. Landers was also heavily involved in advising Nico Iamaleava to abruptly leave Tennessee for UCLA last year.

One group that has been adamant about passing agent regulations is the trade association for college football coaches. Last year, the American Football Coaches Association launched a federal lobbying campaign to convince Congress to pass federal agent regulations.

AFCA executive director Craig Bohl told Front Office Sports that agent regulation was one of the main topics of the organization’s annual convention this week, even though it was not a formal agenda item. “We have agents that are posing as agents and they’re not representing, they’re lying to kids, they’re charging—they’re extorting them. It was like a cascade of coaches just screaming for help,” he said. 

Bohl suggested that the FTC’s inquiries and attempts to enforce SPARTA were a good start. But he added that the AFCA believes there needs to be additional action, including an agent registration database, uniform contracts, and a clear national enforcement entity.

Though legislators on both sides of the aisle have expressed interest in the issue, no new laws have been passed to date.