Mike Tomlin stepping down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers this year marked a pivotal moment in the franchise’s history. However, the Steelers seemed to be leaving no stone unturned in removing the former head coach’s ties to the team.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“’The standard is the standard’ sign that once greeted players walking into the locker room at Acrisure Stadium during the Mike Tomlin era has been replaced with a massive Steelers logo, Steelers beat writer Mike DeFabo wrote on X.
The Steelers wasted no time in adapting to Mike McCarthy, who will now take Tomlin’s place on the sidelines for the team. He has already changed things up with moves like bringing training camp practices earlier and plans to make them less physical. Weirdly enough, Steelers insider Mark Kaboly had already called that the franchise will not keep Tomlin’s quote in the locker room.
“I guess change isn’t bad, but [McCarthy] ain’t easing into this change,” Kaboly said on the Kaboly + Mack show. “It’s, ‘This is my way, this is how I do it, I don’t even care.’ I wouldn’t even be shocked if there is nothing that is similar to what was done in the past. … You think The Standard is the Standard sign is going to be right there walking into the locker room at Acrisure Stadium? I guarantee that sign’s not there. What I’m saying is, everything has changed.”
“The Standard is the Standard” became one of Mike Tomlin’s most famous phrases during his time with the Steelers. However, when asked in 2015 where that phrase came from, he didn’t know how he arrived at those exact words. But it has been remembered by players across his 19-year tenure as head coach.
Mike Tomlin led the Steelers for 19 consecutive seasons without a losing record, and his teams reached the playoffs 13 times. His biggest achievement came during the 2008 season, when the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII. Tomlin became the youngest head coach ever to win a Super Bowl, but unfortunately, it was his only one.
Pittsburgh has not won another Super Bowl since then. The team has also struggled to make a deep playoff run, going nearly a decade without advancing in the postseason. Ben Roethlisberger, the most successful quarterback of Tomlin’s run, took a jab at the motto last year, saying that “the ‘standard’ should be shifted a little bit.”
With the quote removed from the locker room, the shift is clear.