Mike Tomlin said stepping down as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach was not a snap decision, but one that grew out of where he was in life and where the team stood after years of playoff frustration. More than three months after leaving the job, Tomlin said Sunday that he is joining NBC Sports’ Football Night in America as a studio analyst.
Tomlin said the move fit him personally and made sense for the Steelers, who had not had much postseason success in recent years. He pointed to veterans Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt and Chris Boswell as players who deserved the energy that often comes with new leadership, and he said leadership can be lonely. NBC officially announced his move on Sunday.
That next step closes a remarkable run that began when Pittsburgh hired Tomlin ahead of the 2007 season and lasted through the 2024 season. He finished 193-114-2 in the regular season, never had a losing year, led the Steelers to the playoffs in 13 of his 19 seasons and won eight AFC North titles. The Steelers’ loss to the Houston Texans in January’s AFC wild-card round was his final game and his seventh straight postseason defeat.
Tomlin said joining NBC will let him stay close to the sport and the people around it, and he said he is excited to work Sunday nights, travel to different venues and share his view with other football fans. He also made a prediction about Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation, saying if there were a gun to his head he would say Aaron Rodgers would be the starter, and he described Rodgers as someone with a love affair with football, from the game itself to the process, the informal moments, the development of younger players and the connections with teammates.
Tomlin’s exit ended one of the NFL’s defining coaching runs. He was the league’s youngest coach when hired and later became its longest-tenured coach, and he tied Chuck Noll’s franchise record for regular-season victories in his final home win at Acrisure Stadium. For Pittsburgh, the question now is how the next coach handles a roster Tomlin said still has veteran talent and a reason for optimism. For Tomlin, the move to NBC Sports Network marks a different kind of spotlight, one that will keep him in the game without the daily weight of running a team.