The Pittsburgh Steelers reload, not rebuild. The team’s chosen strategy for more than 20 years, former NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck thinks it’s time to change that approach.
“It’s not the right move,” Hasselbeck said Monday on ESPN’s Get Up when asked if the team should pursue Aaron Rodgers. “When you become a new head coach, you have, in some cases, one year but usually two years to be good. So if you’re Mike McCarthy, you can’t be doing this again next year because you need to be good. So it’s time to reset, rebuild in Pittsburgh.
“That’s what they did with the coaching change. They need to do it a quarterback as well.”
Hasselbeck’s overall point has merit, but the case he made wasn’t particularly strong. Owner patience across sports is typically short, but the Steelers are among the least shortsighted. The Rooney family didn’t waver during tough times with Bill Cowher (1998-2000) or Mike Tomlin (2012-2013, final decade without a playoff win) when most organizations would’ve made a switch.
Pittsburgh also didn’t make a coaching change. Rather, Tomlin resigned from his position with Rooney noting he intended to bring him back for 2026.
If Hasselbeck’s point about needing to “be good” by next season is true, that’s incentive against rebuilding. Even if teardowns can be rebuilt within two years, it comes with no guarantee and plenty of pain.
The broader idea of a rebuild has its place. Teams have proven to go from worst to first in a hurry. The Houston Texans, Washington Commanders, and, most recently and notably, the New England Patriots showed a remarkable turnaround: 4-13 in 2024 to a Super Bowl appearance in 2025.
No matter Hasselbeck’s stance, the Steelers seem full speed ahead. That was evident by the mere hiring of Mike McCarthy, now the oldest coach in franchise history. The fear is Pittsburgh will continue spinning its wheels for the next several seasons, stuck between 9 and 10 wins without meaningful progression or regression to send the franchise somewhere new.
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