Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said the timing was right for both him and the organization when he stepped down after 19 seasons without a losing record.
Tomlin, who guided the Steelers to victory in Super Bowl XLIII in the 2008 season, told NBC on Sunday night in his first interview since resigning in January that the lack of postseason success — no playoff wins since 2016 — figured into what was a difficult decision.
“You know, it’s probably not an overnight decision,” said Tomlin, 54. “It’s probably not something that I could articulate or share with people. There’s a loneliness with leadership.
“I just thought it was a good time for me personally and by that, I mean, just where I am in life and I thought it was a good time for the organization, to be quite honest with you. We didn’t have success in the playoffs in recent years and there’s just some veteran players there, man, guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and (Chris) Boswell, man, that I thought that just were worthy of the excitement and the optimism of new leadership.”
Tomlin will join NBC as an NFL pregame show analyst on “Football Night in America,” the network officially announced on Sunday. The show airs ahead of “Sunday Night Football.”
“I just thought it would be a great way to stay connected to the game and the awesome people in it, players, coaches, executives,” Tomlin said, “and excited about doing that on Sunday night and traveling to different venues and getting that feel for the environment and lastly, I just thought it would be awesome to share insight with fellow football lovers.
“I love to talk football and so that’s just an exciting component for me. I got to admit, though, there’s going to be some anxiety about stepping into a new space, but good anxiety, it’s good to be uncomfortable with the growth associated with that. I’m fired up about it.”
The Steelers went 10-7 in 2025 with a 30-6 wild-card loss to the Houston Texans on Jan. 12. He was replaced by Pittsburgh native and veteran head coach Mike McCarthy in late January.
Tomlin guided the Steelers to the Super Bowl XLIII title with a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in February 2009. Pittsburgh lost Super Bowl XLV to quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, 31-25, in February 2011.
Tomlin posted a 193-114-2 record with Pittsburgh, tying him with Hall of Fame member Chuck Noll for the most regular-seasons win franchise history and ninth in NFL history. Noll also coached the Steelers (1969-91), with Bill Cowher (1992-2007) bridging the gap between Noll and Tomlin.
Rodgers, who played for McCarthy in Green Bay and with Tomlin last season, hasn’t announced his intentions for 2026 — return, retirement or something else. Tomlin predicted Rodgers, 42, will play his 22nd NFL season for the Steelers.
“Man, if you got a gun to my head, I’d say it’s AR,” Tomlin said. “I just think, Aaron, I just think being around him for the 12 months that I’m around him, he’s got a love affair with the game of football and not only the game, but the process, the informal moments, the development of younger guys, the interaction with teammates. I think he has an addiction to that, and there’s only one way to feed it. And certainly he is still capable and in really good shape. And so I think at the end of the day, he’ll play football.”
