It seems as if every other day new head coaching job opens up in the NFL. As of this writing, nine of the 32 NFL franchises do not have anyone in their top spot, and with each new spot that becomes available, the chances increase that the Seattle Seahawks will lose one – and perhaps even two – of their 2025 coordinators.
Both OC Klint Kubiak and DC Aden Durde have received interview requests from multiple teams.
There has been a common belief that former Ravens coach John Harbaugh is the main reason for the current logjam. He is much in demand, and until he settles on a new team, all the contenders for his services seem unlikely to make other moves.
Could Seattle Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak be the next coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers?
On Tuesday, a new wrinkle appeared with the stunning announcement that Mike Tomlin would be stepping away from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the squad he has led for the past nineteen seasons. Tomlin has not announced his intentions, and there are many who predict he will spend a year away – perhaps in the broadcast booth – before considering a new coaching challenge.
His departure creates yet another opening, and Klint Kubiak appears to be a very viable candidate to be his replacement.
Kubiak has been one of the most in-demand interviewees since the regular season ended over a week ago. He has reportedly had interviews with four teams – Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Miami – and has at least two more scheduled with Arizona and the New York Giants.
After the Tomlin news broke, I consulted five major websites to see their updated predictions. (Please note: we call these projections, but a more accurate term would be “wild guesses.”)
With some of the coaching candidates, there was minor consensus. Vance Joseph to Arizona. Harbaugh to the Giants. But with Kubiak? Five writers, five different locations.
Kubiak was being sent to Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Tennessee. The only thing that we can state with some degree of certainty is that most analysts believe Klint Kubiak will not be in Seattle next season. He will be leading another team.
No one chose the Steelers, but I would not rule that out. Not by a long shot. I think there is a decent chance that is where he ends up.
The consensus for the Pittsburgh job, if you can believe the experts I consulted, is Minnesota Vikings' defensive coordinator Bryan Flores. Flores is certainly going to get plenty of interest, but in several ways, he does not fit the profile of the classic Steelers coach.
The Rooney family has owned the Steelers since they joined the NFL in 1933. Though they cycled through 13 different coaches (some had multiple stints) in their first several decades, in 1969, Art Rooney hired a young coach named Chuck Noll, who stayed until 1991 and led them to four Super Bowls.
Noll established a pattern. He was young – in his 30s. He was a defensive coordinator who had worked for multiple other franchises but had never been a head coach. The same was true of Bill Cowher and Tomlin, both of whom stayed in their positions for more than a decade and won Super Bowls.
The Rooney philosophy, which has been very successful over a long period of time, favors youth in their 30s and experience with multiple other coaches and franchises. Kubiak is one of the few top candidates who have those credentials.
So does Rams' DC Chris Shula, another hot prospect. Insofar as it pertains to the Steelers, Shula might seem like an even better fit because he comes from the defensive side of the ball, as did Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin.
But the NFL is changing. Pittsburgh’s defense may not be what it once was, but its offense, as witnessed by its feeble performance against Houston in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, needs a drastic overhaul. Kubiak might be just what they need to straddle the line between tradition and innovation.
As I mentioned, we are all just guessing as of now. Soon, the dominoes will begin falling, perhaps once Harbaugh makes up his mind. Kubiak may not end up in Pittsburgh, but it seems highly likely he will end up somewhere other than back in Seattle.
For him, I think the Steelers’ job would be a real prize. Even if you don’t like their current roster, that is not the point. Rosters can be rebuilt rather quickly. If I were a coach, I’d be looking for quality, stable ownership and a proven track record of sticking to a plan. That’s Pittsburgh, and it could be the next stop in the career of Klint Kubiak.