PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II said he wasn't shocked by Mike Tomlin's decision to step down after 19 seasons, but he had no intention of parting ways with his longtime head coach after another early playoff exit.

"I was certainly willing to take another run at it next year with Mike," Rooney said.

That's what Rooney was expecting to discuss with Tomlin on Tuesday when the coach said in a meeting he was stepping down. Tomlin then told the team and his assistant coaches in a meeting.

"I wasn't expecting that conversation," Rooney said Wednesday at a press conference at Acrisure Stadium. "Obviously it went in a different direction."

Rooney said he sensed Tomlin might be nearing the end of his time with the Steelers and "you could see that coming. I wouldn't say I was shocked."

Rooney said Tomlin gave him no indication he wants to continue being a head coach "in the near future. ... That doesn't seem to be on his radar."

The Steelers retain the rights to Tomlin for the remaining two years of his contract and could command compensation if another team wanted to hire him.

Tomlin's career has been something of a mixed bag. He had 193 wins, which tied him with Chuck Noll, and went to two Super Bowls, winning one. He also won eight division titles and been to the postseason five of the past six seasons.

But he lost his past seven postseason games, tying the record held by Marvin Lewis. The Steelers were outscored in those games by an average score of 37-22. Also, the wild-card loss to the Houston Texans on Monday night marked the ninth time Tomlin went one-and-done in the playoffs, tying the dubious record held by Marty Schottenheimer.

Despite the playoff failures the past nine years, Rooney said, "I'll take being in contention every year and having a shot at it. We were always in contention with Mike, and that's what counts."

Rooney was non-committal about the type of coach the Steelers would be seeking to replace Tomlin, even though their past three head-coaching hires were defensive-minded assistants in their young 30s.

"Can I sign up for another Chuck Noll or another Bill Cowher or another Mike Tomlin? Sure," Rooney said. "Somebody that we feel fits, that would be great. But for now, we're not going to narrow the box too much along those same lines."

Then he added, "If I've learned anything, it's to have an open mind. We had Mike in for his first interview, and I certainly wasn't expecting that he was going to be our next head coach."

Rooney said the hiring process will be slower than in past years because of the different protocols that are in place for the interview process. But, in the past three hires, all were completed by the end of January — Noll was hired on Jan. 27, 1969, Cowher on Jan. 21, 1992 and Tomlin on Jan. 22, 2007.

Rooney said he and general manager Omar Khan will be in charge of the coaching search.

"I don't want to put an exact time frame on it," Rooney said. "We'll get started on it right away. It will probably take at least a few weeks."

Rooney said Tomlin's decision will probably impact Aaron Rodgers' future with the Steelers.

"Aaron came here to play with Mike," Rooney said. "It will most likely affect his decision."

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