Mike Tomlin officially makes move to media in prominent role

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is officially making the move to sports media. The news was first reported by The Athletic, following months of speculation after announcing his departure from Pittsburgh.

Tomlin isn’t just joining any NFL media role, either; he will be one of the prominent faces on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

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The Super Bowl-winning coach is bringing more star power to Football Night in America, joining host Maria Taylor, ex-Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, and Devin McCourty.

“The Tomlin sweepstakes was watered down partly because looming over all of the TV rights holders is the NFL’s desire to renegotiate its 11-year, $110-plus billion deals,” the report states. “The NFL has opt-outs in the agreements at the end of the decade, but is trying to extract more money from its main partners, including CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC/ESPN, and Amazon Prime Video.

“The platforms would have the advantage of knowing for certain that the deals would go through in the 2030s without the threat of losing the games at the end of this decade.”

NBC has the highest ratings among the Sunday NFL pregame shows, so it presents a huge opportunity for Tomlin in the next chapter of his career. Since announcing his departure from the Steelers, Tomlin was viewed as a top target for NBC.

Now, the network has its guy. There is no telling how long Tomlin will remain in the media, however, because he has left the door open for a return to coaching.