Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Put on Blast for Coaching Staff Hire

The grades are in from the annual NFLPA report card. Once again, the highlight for the Pittsburgh Steelers was head coach Mike Tomlin.

But Tomlin didn’t completely escape criticism. Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora ripped Tomlin over the hiring of Strength & Conditioning coach Phil Matusz.

After Matusz’s first season in Pittsburgh, the Steelers dropped to last in the league in the strength coaches category on the NFLPA report card.

“A year later, it’s looking like one of the worst hires Mike Tomlin has made,” wrote Kozora.

The Steelers analyst didn’t only take issue with the ranking.

“Under Matusz, the Steelers implemented a new pre-training camp conditioning test beat writers would later say was unlike anything they had seen before in Latrobe. Part of the test required all players, including quarterbacks, to push a sled. Russell Wilson suffered a calf injury during the rest, one that would linger throughout the summer and cause him to miss the first six games of the 2024 season.”

Kozora also noted the Steelers had a lot of soft tissue injuries toward the end of the season. While Wilson’s injury didn’t really hurt Pittsburgh’s record, the injuries in December helped contribute to the team’s five-game losing streak to end the campaign.

SB Nation’s Behind the Steel Curtain’s Kate Magdziuk was also critical of the Steelers after the release of the NFLPA report card.

“Just 75% of players reported that they received individualized training plans for their strength coaching staff, which ranked 31st out of 32 teams,” Magdziuk wrote. “Meanwhile, their report that the strength team contributes ‘slightly’ to their overall success graded dead last.”

Mike Tomlin’s Steelers Fair Poorly in 2025 NFLPA Report Card

As he did last year, Tomlin received an A on the annual NFLPA report card. But that was the only grade the Steelers received above a B-plus.

Of the 10 categories besides head coach, the Steelers received a C-plus or worse in seven of them. In all 10 categories, the Steelers were ranked among the 32 teams no better than 15th.

The Steelers finished ranked 28th on the NFLPA report card overall.

Last year, the Steelers were ranked 20th in strength & conditioning with a B-plus grade. The set back in the category should be very troublesome for an organization that’s already received front office criticism over the past couple years.

Beside Tomlin, there were some small positives on the Steelers’ 2025 NFLPA report card. They added game day daycare services this past season. The 2024 NFLPA report card revealed Pittsburgh was one of seven teams without that service before last fall.

The Steelers also improved in the Team Travel category. A B-plus grade in that category was the organization’s second-best grade behind Tomlin’s A.

Art Rooney II to Blame for Steelers Poor 2025 NFLPA Report Card?

Rather than Tomlin, Magdziuk focused the bulk of her criticism for the Steelers 2025 NFLPA report card on Art Rooney II.

“Generally speaking, it seems like most of these problem areas stem from the head — Art Rooney II,” she wrote. “Rooney earned a “D” ownership grade that ranked 28th among team owners — admittedly an improvement from his “F” grade that ranked 31st just last season.

“He received a grade of 5.8/10 on his willingness to invest in team facilities (31st), which seems to be well reflected in the food/dining area, training room, weight room and locker room — all graded 21st or lower among 32 teams.”

Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn’t address the NFLPA report cards. But Roethlisberger strongly implied on his Footbahlin Podcast in late January that the Steelers haven’t expanded their coaching staff because of it costs money.

“We all know that the Rooneys aren’t putting a lot of extra into that stuff,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s just, they’ve never done it that way. So, we don’t expect that to change.”

Pittsburgh’s improvement with some specific criticism from the 2024 NFLPA report card could give fans hope the organization will get better before 2026.

However, Rooney doesn’t appear to put much stock in the report card. He publicly criticized the NFLPA report card after receiving poor marks last year.