Mike Tomlin was the only NFL head coach Jaylen Warren had ever known.
Warren, who signed with Pittsburgh as a 2022 undrafted free agent, played four seasons under Tomlin -- just a small portion of the 19 years the Steelers stalwart roamed the sidelines -- and understandably took some time to acclimate after the coach stepped down in January.
"Me personally, I never thought he was the problem or whatever, but it sucks," Warren said Friday on Good Morning Football. "I was -- I wouldn't say traumatized -- but it hurt, because he was the one who took me in as an undrafted [player], he gave me a shot, and that's who I was playing under for my first four years. To hear him resign, it sucked, but he had to do what he had to do."
Warren emerged under Tomlin from a UDFA to the Steelers' lead ball-carrier in 2025, signing an extension just before his fourth regular season began. He delivered with a career-high 958 rushing yards and six scores on the ground, plus another 333 receiving yards and two TD receptions as Pittsburgh made the playoffs a third straight season.
But as they have in five straight postseason trips, the Steelers fell in the Wild Card Round, and they now must find their way over a hump established during the end of the Tomlin era under new head coach Mike McCarthy.
This week marked the next step in that mission, as Warren and Co. began their offseason program on April 7.
Although he was stung by Tomlin's departure, Warren has come away with a positive impression of McCarthy.
"He's been energetic," Warren said regarding McCarthy. "Obviously, it's an NFL week, so he's been doing his thing as far as preparing us for what he wants and is expecting us to expect from him. It's been great. I just love the energy he brings, and I just love what he's about."
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With McCarthy comes the obvious storyline of Aaron Rodgers and whether the quarterback will return to Pittsburgh to reunite with his former coach, who he played under for 13 seasons in Green Bay and won a Super Bowl with during the 2010 season.
Rodgers reached no such heights with the Steelers in 2025, but he appears welcome to try a do-over if he chooses to keep playing. McCarthy mentioned at the Annual League Meeting last week that he is in regular contact with the four-time Most Valuable Player, and team owner Art Rooney II said he expects a decision ahead of the draft, which begins on April 23.
Warren, who was fourth on the Steelers with 40 receptions last year as one of Rodgers' most trusty safety valves, would be glad to see Rodgers back. However, he's choosing not to establish any expectations one way or the other.
"You know, I'm not really expecting anything," Warren said. "Whatever happens, happens. I'm rocking with whoever's at the quarterback position. But if he comes back, great. If he doesn't, then we'll miss him."
Something else the Steelers miss -- and must fix with or without Rodgers -- is the presence of an imposing running game.
The Black and Gold, long known for turning opponents black and blue on the ground, finished 26th in rushing yards last season. Heading into Warren's first season sans Tomlin, Pittsburgh replaced Kenneth Gainwell with Rico Dowdle, a much more bruising runner, to round out the backfield.
Warren told GMFB he "can't wait to rock" with Dowdle, another former undrafted free agent, and although he didn't have a definitive answer as to why the ground game was so suppressed in 2025, he expressed confidence the team can turn it around in the near future.
"It could be a lot of things. I wouldn't point the finger at anyone," Warren said. "Things just happened the way they happened. Moving forward, whatever the coaches have planned, I know we're ready to execute it."