Days after news emerged that Mike Tomlin was diving into a long-anticipated career in sports media, the former Pittsburgh Steelers coach spoke with his new NBC colleague, Maria Taylor, during an interviewed that aired over the weekend about his transition to the "Football Night in America" team as well as his departure from the sideline after 19 seasons (none below .500) in the Steel City.
"There's a loneliness with leadership," Tomlin, who didn't conduct a press conference following his decision to leave the Steelers, said of stepping away from coaching.
"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."
Though Tomlin won Super Bowl 43 to cap his second season on the job in Pittsburgh and led the Steelers back to the Super Bowl two years later, they haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 playoffs. Tomlin guided the franchise into postseason during 13 of those 19 seasons.
While he said his transition was not an "overnight decision," Tomlin also seemed amped for his new gig, which will include 2026 road trips with "FNIA," which precedes NBC's always loaded "Sunday Night Football" lineup.
