Sports

Mike Tomlin Makes First Comments on Steelers Exit, Weighs In on Rodgers's Return

By Brigid Kennedy Sports Illustrated

Come the fall, we'll be seeing a lot more of former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who hasn't been around much since he stepped down from his long-held post in the Steel City.

Coach T has joined NBC's Football Night in America, where he will work alongside Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett and Devin McCourty in pregame coverage on Sunday nights. The Athletic's Andrew Marchand was first to break the news of the hiring last week.

On Sunday, Tomlin appeared during NBA playoffs coverage on NBC Sports to discuss his broadcast ambitions, how he spent the NFL draft, and most notably, his exit from the Steelers. (The coach had yet to speak publicly about his resignation.)

"It's probably not an overnight decision, but it's probably not something that I could articulate or share with people," Tomlin told Maria Taylor, asked how he knew it was time to hang it up. "There's just a loneliness with leadership."

Tomlin stepped down as head coach of the Steelers back in January, shortly after the team's postseason ended (yet again) in the Wild Card round. He did not speak with the media at the time; only team president Art Rooney II took the mic, at which point he said that he would have kept Tomlin around for another contract if the coach had wanted it.

"I just thought it was a good time for me, personally, and by that, I mean just where I am in life," Tomlin continued on Sunday. "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, and there's just some veteran players there-guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and [Chris Boswell]-that I thought were worthy of the optimism and the excitement associated with new leadership."

Given his knowledge of the game and unique turns of phrase, it was long predicted that Tomlin might turn to the world of broadcasting once his coaching days were over. And per Marchand, NBC heavily pursued the former coach in recent weeks, though Fox was said to be interested, as well.

"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 venues and getting that feel for the environment," Coach T said of his interest in the gig.

"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 gotta admit, though, it's going to be some anxiety about stepping into a new space, but good anxiety. Y'know? It's good to be uncomfortable, to grow, to associate it with that. But man, I'm fired up about it."

The 2026 season will be quite interesting for the Steelers. The team has a new head coach in Mike McCarthy, but is still without a long-term solution at quarterback. As things stand, former Ohio State star Will Howard, longtime backup Mason Rudolph, and 2026 draft pick Drew Allar comprise the team's QB room, but the front office is also waiting for an answer from veteran Aaron Rodgers, who may or may not return to signal call for the Black and Gold for another year.

If you ask Tomlin, though, A-Rodg will definitely be back.

"If you had a gun to my head, I think it's AR," he said of his QB prediction for next season. "I just think Aaron-being around him for the 12 months that I'm around him, he's got a love affair with the game of football. ... 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 I think at the end of the day, he'll play football."

We'll see if he's right. Regardless, though, it feels great knowing Coach T isn't gone from football Sundays forever; in fact, we might get even more of him now than before.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mike Tomlin Makes First Comments on Steelers Exit, Weighs In on Rodgers's Return.

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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 5:40 PM.

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