Steelers owner Art Rooney II dismisses idea of rebuild under new HC - ESPN

PITTSBURGH — Even though Mike Tomlin, the man who coined the Pittsburgh Steelers organizational creed of «the standard is the standard,» left the franchise after 19 seasons, team president Art Rooney II said his expectation for the next head coach remains the same.

«The standard is to try to compete to win a championship every year,» Rooney said Wednesday, one day after Tomlin's resignation as Steelers coach.

Rooney, 73, rebuffed the idea that he would tolerate a rebuild as the franchise installs just its fourth head coach since 1969.

When asked whether the Steelers would consider overhauling the current roster and entering a «rebuild» phase, Rooney responded that he doesn't «like that word,» and added that he is «not sure why you waste a year of your life not trying to contend.»

«I'm not going to say, 'Well, we're going to take a couple of years to figure this out and then we'll try to compete,'» Rooney said. «I think you try every year. Some years you have the horses to really get there. Some years you don't, but you try every year, in my view.»

Rooney said he will lead the search along with general manager Omar Khan. Rooney's son Dan, currently the Steelers' vice president of business development and strategy, was also in the room for Wednesday's news conference, sitting alongside Khan in the front of the room.

Two of the three most recent coaches in Steelers history each posted winning seasons in their first year at the helm of the franchise.

Rooney highlighted Tomlin's early success and 19-year streak of never having a losing season in his characterization of the Tomlin era of Steelers football, but he also acknowledged frustration with the lack of recent postseason success.

«It's been a winning era,» Rooney II