Mike Tomlin is no longer the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be on millions of TV screens across the country next year. With Tomlin stepping down as the Steelers’ head coach, the expectation is that he could make a foray into TV, whether that’s in a studio or as a game analyst. A studio would make more sense for Tomlin, especially if he plans to return to coaching. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, one of the most plugged-in sports media insiders, reported on Tuesday that FOX is considered the favorite to land Tomlin.
“Fox is considered the favorite, as it has not filled Jimmy Johnson’s seat on Fox’s NFL studio show following Johnson’s retirement.”
Per Marchand, FOX NFL Sunday requires its analysts to be a Hall of Famer or a future Hall of Famer. Tomlin would be joining a group of former NFL players that includes Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Charles Woodson, Rob Gronkowski, and former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
Bradshaw appeared on 103.7 The Buzz earlier today, before Tomlin announced to the team he was stepping down. Bradshaw said he knows FOX would love to have Tomlin.
While they may be the early leaders for Tomlin’s services, Marchand emphasized that Tomlin will likely be able to pick whatever studio job he wants. CBS’s The NFL Today immediately sticks out as an option due to the recent departure of Matt Ryan. Ryan will serve as the Atlanta Falcons’ President of Football. Marchand noted that pairing Tomlin with former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher might be “one too many” ex-Steelers coaches.
With ESPN hosting next year’s Super Bowl, they could add Tomlin to their Monday Night Football pregame show. Marchand reported that the network is in “add” mode ahead of the Super Bowl. He also writes that Prime Video could offer Tomlin an eight-figure salary for their Thursday Night Football broadcasts, while NBC could also make changes to its studio. Jason Garrett currently works in the studio for NBC ahead of their Sunday Night Football broadcast. He recently interviewed for the Tennessee Titans head coaching job. Tomlin could be a potential easy replacement if Garrett, as unlikely as it is, lands that job.
FOX hired Sean Payton after he stepped down from the New Orleans Saints head coaching job. Maybe they will do the same thing with Tomlin. Like Payton, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Tomlin wound up coaching again. Given that FOX was comfortable enough to hire Payton, they likely wouldn’t have any issue hiring Tomlin for one year.
Networks are likely already lining up to try to lure Tomlin. But with him stepping down today, it will likely be a few weeks before he solidifies his next role.
