This season, head coach Mike Tomlin has endured loads of hate and calls for his firing, but the negativity has also affected his wife. The turmoil further seeped into his family life as his wife, Kiya Tomlin, decided to press pause on her fashion venture. Her recent confession on social media sheds light on the incident.

“So at the beginning of 2025, my plan was to release some new Coach Ts in time for the holiday season,” Kiya Tomlin said in her recent Instagram post. “I got a little behind schedule, and by the time we got them done, we kind of went through a little rough patch with the season, and the fans got a little restless, and I decided I didn’t want to release the Coach Ts.”

Coach Tomlin faced a lot of criticism amidst Pittsburgh’s topsy-turvy year. The Steelers started with four wins in five games before losing four times in their next six games. This caused fans to push”Fire Tomlin” chants and send hateful messages to his family.

This included a hurtful email received by the family, which said, “F*** THIS N**** A** M** CLOTHES AND YOUR DADDY B**** I HOPE YOUR DAD F****** D***.”

Nearly a year ago, Kiya Tomlin unveiled the Coach T Collection as a bold extension of her brand, blending leadership, confidence, and everyday versatility into a unisex line. But plans to expand were quietly put on hold as Tomlin became the target of sustained criticism, forcing Kiya to press pause. Thankfully, this dip didn’t last for very long, as the new apparel was officially announced.

“But then, my husband hit his 200th career win,” Kiya Tomlin further said, “Then the next week he tied Chuck Knoll’s record for all-time wins, and we have been getting a lot of requests for Coach Ts. People are still really excited about him, so I said no better time than now, so here you go.”

In the remaining video itself, Kiya sported some of the new designs in the collection that were added. Eventually, despite the negativity, the Steelers brushed off these losses by finishing the season with a 10-7 record. Their playoff spot confirmation reestablished trust in Mike Tomlin and allowed his wife to release her Coach Ts ahead of the playoffs.

As positivity returns in his family, Mike Tomlin is ready to take on the playoffs and will aim for a first playoff win since 2017 for the team. The Steelers’ head coach has struggled to continue his winning form after the regular season over the recent past. Addressing this issue, Tomlin shared a powerful message for his team.

Mike Tomlin issues a playoff mandate to his Steelers

Despite recording zero losing seasons in his 19-year coaching tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin has found it difficult to replicate this success in the postseason. Pittsburgh enters the 2026 playoffs on a six-game postseason losing streak. Further, the team’s last playoff win was nine years ago in January 2017.

Ahead of their AFC Wildcard game against the Houston Texans, Mike Tomlin issued a strong message for his team.

“Don’t take home playoff games for granted,” Mike Tomlin said, as reported by ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “Certainly, don’t take Monday night home playoff games for granted.”

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With this statement, Mike Tomlin appears to be fully motivated to make a deep playoff run, and hence, the Pittsburgh fans will hope to see their Steelers channel this energy and dominate the Texans this coming Monday at Acrisure Stadium.

The stage is now set at Acrisure Stadium, where the wild-card clash is set for 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday, January 12, 2026, as No. 4-seeded Steelers host the No. 5-seeded Houston Texans in the first round of the AFC playoffs. Pittsburgh’s AFC North title run has earned them home turf, but Houston’s hot finish makes this Monday night showdown a defining test.