Steelers' Mike Tomlin Reveals One Of The Biggest Professional Regrets Of His Inspired Career

The Pittsburgh Steelers closed out their 2023 regular season with a shocking three-game winning streak that, along with help from the Tennessee Titans, got them into the playoffs. Their joy was short lived though, as Mike Tomlin suffered yet another one-and-done in the NFL postseason. As much as the lack of recent success sticks with Tomlin, there is one specific missed opportunity in his career that stands out to him the most.

Steelers' Tomlin Regrets Never Getting One Player A Championship

Tomlin has coached some truly great players in his 17 years overseeing the Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu are two examples, with Polamalu already entering Canton and Roethlisberger soon to follow. However, when Tomlin looks back on his time in Pittsburgh, one name stands out among those who missed their chance to win a Super Bowl.

On Thursday, Tomlin gave his end-of-the-season press conference where he addressed a great deal of issues and questions from the 2023 season. One of those was regarding Cameron Heyward and how badly Tomlin wanted to get him a championship ring. Along with Heyward, Tomlin brought up another name, now-retired, who never got the chance to feel what a Super Bowl win was like.

"I think I always move in that urgency, you know? I think you can point to guys like that [Cam Heyward] annually that are deserving of being champions. You want them to have that taste. It's probably one of my biggest regrets professionally is that Maurkice Pouncey, for example, is not a world champion because that guy is. So, that is a motivating factor for me, certainly."

Maurkice Pouncey was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft and immediately became a standout on the line that protected Roethlisberger. While the Steelers made it to Super Bowl XLV, Pouncey wasn't able to play in the game with an ankle fracture. Doug Legursky took over at center, and Pittsburgh went on to lose that Super Bowl, 31-25, to the Green Bay Packers.

Pouncey would never make it back to a Super Bowl, as the Steelers would make the playoffs six more times in his career and exit before the Super Bowl in each one. After a particularly painful 2020 season that ended in a 48-37 loss in the Wild Card Round to the Cleveland Browns, Pouncey retired. The Steelers have struggled to find consistency at center ever since, which is all the more proof of what he brought to the position.

Steelers Have Plenty Of Questions Ahead Of 2024

After the 2023 season, the Steelers are back to square one at center again. Mason Cole turned in a dreadful performance throughout the year. It isn't just the center position that needs to be addressed, though. Patrick Peterson was useful later in the season when there was a glaring need at safety, but too often, he was a liability in coverage and tackling, as was Levi Wallace.

The 2023 season seemed to take care of the inside linebacker spot, but then injuries decimated the position. Knowing that they can't go through the same kind of interior weakness that the defense dealt with in 2023, questions about availability will certainly have to be asked. Whoever plays in the middle of Pittsburgh's defense in 2024 needs to be consistently on the field, but yet again, depth will be on everyone's mind.

Tomlin somehow steered the 2023 Steelers away from being smashed on the rocks and into a wildly unexpected playoff game. While the Cinderella story didn't end happily, it showed what this franchise could do with a struggling situation, so imagine if the 2024 Steelers had the stability to go with resiliency. Tomlin confirmed that he will be back for at least the 2024 season, so the job of preparing for next season has already begun.

Another non-losing season was appreciated, but not the end goal, as Tomlin knows full well. There will be turnover amongst the staff, that is for certain, but with Tomlin still leading the team, the future still holds hope and promise. There is still disappointment in how 2023 ended, but on Thursday, a confident Tomlin showed his blueprint for 2024, and it sounds exciting.