Steelers Now
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter recently floated the idea that Mike Tomlin could take a TV job after this season. Tomlin has received significant heat this season and in recent years, as expectations have not been reached. A playoff win on Monday night for the first time since January of 2017 could change things, however.
Peter Schrager of ESPN thinks Tomlin would be excellent on TV.
“Having worked at Fox, having worked at NFL Network, and now here at ESPN, there’s a chair waiting … for Mike Tomlin to make a lot of money talking football if he so wishes,” Schrager said on the possibility of Tomlin taking a TV job.
During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday, Tomlin threw cold water on a post-coaching career job in TV.
“I don’t participate in any of that,” Tomlin told Eisen when asked about the TV rumors. “I can’t allow myself to. I’m not even really privy to the specifics of what you’re talking about. I just realize it’s a component of what I do and what we do. You better learn to live with it or at least endure it.”
“I’m institutionalized, man, I’ve gotta have it. I just love the challenges that week-in and week-out, that this job provides. The growth in it. The collective growth. The individual growth. A lot of lessons I’ve learned in life have kinda been through my football experience. I’ve been on a team every year of my life since 1980. And so, I really appreciate it.”
Tomlin is just focused on the present.
“First of all, I’m certainly really appreciate of the work environment that I’ve been in for 19 years and the stability and the steadiness of our ownership. I’m just tunnel visioned. As a leader, I’m called upon to serve these guys,” Tomlin said. “NFL playing careers are very short. And so I certainly can’t seek comfort in the longevity of my career. I work with guys who have very short careers and I tend to try to always have an mirror that urgency. I think it’s disrespectful not to have that level of urgency when I lead them, and so very rarely do I delve into big-picture perspectives or appreciate the longevity component of what I’ve been able to do. There’s just so many things that are waiting for me, today, this week, that demand my attention.”
Former Steelers defensive back and Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy has deep ties to the Steelers. He played for the club in the 1970s and was on the coaching staff in the 1980s. He also was the head coach in Tampa Bay when Mike Tomlin first got his start in the NFL.
Dungy, who now works for NBC Sports, was in Pittsburgh for this past Sunday night’s Steelers-Ravens game. He had a 30-minute meeting with Steelers owner Art Rooney II on Saturday prior to his one-on-one interview with Tomlin. From those conversations, he would be shocked if Tomlin is...
