The Pittsburgh Steelers have gone through the biggest organizational change of the last 19 years during the 2026 offseason. Former head coach Mike Tomlin announced he would be stepping down from his role with the franchise, and the organization then went out and hired Mike McCarthy to fill the role after a thorough coaching search. McCarthy filled out his staff shortly after, and there is some optimism surrounding the team going into the 2026 season. It is hard to imagine the current group has what it takes to go farther than what Tomlin has taken them to in recent years, but he will be rooting for them to do so.
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Former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on the sideline during a road win over the New York Jets in 2025.
After Tomlin stepped down from his role with the Steelers, there were questions about what he would do next. Some thought he might try to coach elsewhere in the NFL, while others knew he has a great personality that would attract a ton of offers from some of the major networks. Multiple networks reached out to the coach, and he wound up signing a deal with NBC to join the desk on Football Night in America. That is the pregame show before Sunday Night Football that discusses all of the games from that week, so he is going to be talking about his former team quite a bit.
On Thursday, the former head coach appeared on The Dan Patrick Show, and he was asked about his new gig and his time with the Steelers. Tomlin spoke about watching his former team during the upcoming season, and he let it be known that he will be rooting for them.
"I'm going to root for those guys because that's just who I am," Tomlin said. "I spent 19 years there. I had a hand in selecting most of those guys. And so when you have those intimate relationships, certainly that's going to be a component of viewing for me."
Tomlin will be focusing on the entire NFL throughout the 2026 regular season, and he will primarily focus on each game that is appearing on Sunday Night Football. He made his debut on the program for the Hall of Fame game earlier in the preseason, and he seemed to do a decent job in his new role.
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Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin celebrates after defeating the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium.
As of right now, the Steelers currently have two games scheduled for Sunday Night Football. Those games include a Week 10 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio, and then a Week 13 matchup against the Houston Texans in Pittsburgh. The program does travel for some of its contests, and it is almost a certainty that the people running the show over at NBC would like the show to be in-person from Acrisure Stadium in Week 13. The Steelers also have two games that have not been scheduled yet, one in Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers and one in Week 18 against the Baltimore Ravens. If the AFC North is tight, that game will probably be put in the Sunday Night Football spot.
Steelers' Mike Tomlin Will Enjoy Rooting For His Former Players
Tomlin has always been praised for his abilities as a player's coach. He always took the time to get to know his players and their background, and he really tried to understand each individual that wore the Black and Gold. That leads to the former coach having some close relationships with the guys he used to coach, so that is certainly what is driving him to root for his former team. He will have to try to be unbiased when he is on the air, but inside he will always be rooting for Pittsburgh. The players that have been with the coach the longest like Cam Heyward are probably who Tomlin is truly rooting for, as he wants those veterans like Heyward to get a ring.
What do you think about Tomlin's comments? Are you excited to see him as an analyst? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!
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