On Sunday, it was not just the Acrisure Stadium crowd who chanted for Mike Tomlin to be fired after a home loss to the Buffalo Bills. Besides them, former Pittsburgh Steelers player James Harrison didn’t shy away, either, from criticizing the head coach. He admitted that while he always saw Tomlin as a “good” coach, he never saw him as “great.”

Harrison even brought up past incidents involving Tomlin to prove his point. He recalled an incident during his time with the Steelers when he was supposed to become the starting linebacker after Joey Porter left in 2007. But Tomlin immediately drafted two outside linebackers, which may have made Harrison feel doubted. On December 1, Harrison cited this incident and urged the franchise to consider making a change.

“I’ll be honest, part of that is because, when I was slated to be the starter when Joey [Porter] left, he drafted one and two, outside linebackers,” Harrison said. “A good coach gets you to play to your potential. And right now, the players we have on that team, I have seen play, they’re not playing up to their potential. A great coach gets you to play beyond your potential. Something has to be done. I know the Steelers historically don’t move on from coaches, but I think it’s time that history be made.”

Many are well aware of Harrison’s rocky exit from the Steelers. This was after he forced his way out by skipping or even sleeping through meetings due to frustration over his limited playing time and reduced role.

In December 2017, the Steelers released him, and he soon joined the New England Patriots. Since then, he has been vocal about his issues with Mike Tomlin’s coaching style, even claiming that Tomlin isn’t as disciplined or structured as Bill Belichick. Over the years, there have been several instances where Harrison has taken shots at Tomlin.

Harrison started his NFL career with the Steelers after going undrafted in 2002. His second stint with the team was for eight years (2004-2012), followed by a third stint that spanned three seasons from 2014 to 2017.

With the Steelers coach already facing heavy backlash for the team’s underperformance, Harrison’s latest statement seemed to make a clear case for the Steelers to consider a change. This might be true in the case of defense, which has underperformed despite its talent.

Pittsburgh poured a ton of money into their defense, yet they still got pushed around on the ground for almost 250 yards in the last game. That’s not just a bad night; it shows a deeper issue. The defense was the unit everyone trusted to hold things together, but instead, it looked flat at the line of scrimmage, as they couldn’t stop the runs.

Even following Pittsburgh’s Week 12 loss to the Chicago Bears, Harrison once again didn’t hesitate to call out Tomlin’s discipline issues.

“We’re undisciplined, or poorly coached, or both,” Harrison said on “Deebo and Joe.” “We have a horrible defensive scheme. It’s trash, it’s garbage.”

It’s clear that everyone in Steel City wants to see change, but that doesn’t mean everyone is calling for Tomlin to be fired.

Bill Cowher calls for a change in the Steelers

Bill Cowher, who spent nearly 15 years coaching the Steelers, knows the fanbase better than anyone. He understands both their frustration and Tomlin’s position in the current situation. So with many people questioning Tomlin’s coaching approach, Cowher stepped in to show his support for the coach.

“The fact of the matter is, we know with five games to go, they still have a chance to win their division. – from Mike’s standpoint, I know one thing, he’s not going to let the outside noise influence or how he’s going to change his approach to this next game,” Cowher said on the Dan Patrick Show.

“He knows it’s a lot at stake. They’re not playing great football right now. He’s got to find a way to rally that group and get them to believe that they still have a chance to win this division.”

Coach Tomlin hasn’t given up either. He’s well aware of the issues troubling the Steelers and has been working to address those. But from NFL analysts to outside voices, the criticism has continued to mount. And it won’t stop unless the Steelers start finding success this season.