Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down from the role after 19 years with the organization. The future Hall of Famer has since joined NBC as a studio analyst for Football Night in America, the pregame show for Sunday Night Football.
On Sunday, Tomlin was formally introduced to his new role by studio host Maria Taylor in an interview. Tomlin talked to Maria about some of what led him to step down.
“It’s probably not an overnight decision,” Tomlin told Taylor during an interview that aired Sunday night. “But 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 a lot of success in the playoffs in recent years.”
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be around the game he’s loved for so long.
“I just thought it’d be a great way to stay connected to the game and the awesome people in it, players, coaches, executives, and excited about doing that on Sunday night and traveling to different venues and getting that feel for the environment,” Tomlin said, explaining his decision to go into broadcasting.
“And lastly, I just thought it’d 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, the growth associated with that. And so man, I’m fired up about it.”
It’ll be interesting if Tomlin’s famous quips from his coaching career, dubbed “Tomlinisms,” translate into broadcasting.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.