With the departures of Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick from their respective organizations, Mike Tomlin is currently the NFL head coach with the longest tenure. He talked about one of his biggest regrets after concluding his 17th season with the Steelers.
“It’s probably one of my biggest regrets professionally is that Maurkice Pouncey, for example, is not a world champion because he is,” Tomlin told the press. “And so, that is a motivating factor for me certainly, but continually it is.”
Pouncey spent his whole 11-year career with the Steelers after being selected by Pittsburgh in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Having been selected to nine Pro Bowls and the NFL 2010 All-Decade Team, he has made a name for himself as one of the top centers in the league.
Pouncey declared his retirement at the end of the 2020 season, having only once been this close to winning a title. Pittsburgh advanced all the way to the AFC Championship Game in 2016.
But Pittsburgh lost to the Patriots 36–17, and since then, it has suffered its longest playoff losing streak ever—four games in a row.
Pouncey still feels Tomlin made him a champion, even though he may have had a claim to a Vince Lombardi Trophy before he made the decision to hang up his cleats.
“Never regret it coach, you made me a champion at life. I’m forever grateful,” Pouncey posted on Instagram. Tomlin can make up for Pouncey’s shortcomings, however, by helping another deserving veteran win a championship in 2024. DT Cameron Heyward announced he “isn’t retiring” after many speculated he could following the 2023 season. The soon-to-be 35-year-old has played his entire 13-year NFL career with the Steelers and seems to only be sticking around after an injury-riddled season to win a ring.
“That is something I really want,” Heyward remarked. “That’s the thing that bugs me the most at night, not having an opportunity to win a Super Bowl.”
In order to assemble a team capable of contending for the Super Bowl the following season, Pittsburgh would require a very busy offseason. But as Omar Khan, the general manager, demonstrated last offseason, never say never.
