In his first interview since he resigned as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in February, Mike Tomlin told NBC's Maria Taylor that he walked away, in part, because of the recent lack of playoff success and a belief that some of his veterans were "worthy of the excitement and the optimism associated with new leadership."
"It's probably not an overnight decision," Tomlin told Taylor during an interview that aired Sunday night. "But it's probably not something that I could articulate or share with people. There's a loneliness with leadership. 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."
The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since 2016.
In the interview, NBC officially announced that Tomlin was joining the network as an analyst on its Sunday night pregame show, "Football Night in America." Typically a studio show, "Football Night in America" will be on location at stadiums each week throughout the coming season, which means if the Steelers are in the Sunday night prime-time slot, Tomlin almost certainly would be on hand.
"I just thought it'd be a great way to stay connected to the game and the awesome people in it, players, coaches, executives, and excited about doing that on Sunday night and traveling to different venues and getting that feel for the environment," Tomlin said, explaining his decision to go into broadcasting.
"And lastly, I just thought it'd be awesome to share insight with fellow football lovers. I love to talk football. And so that's just an exciting component for me. I got to admit, though, there's going to be some anxiety about stepping into a new space, but good anxiety. It's good to be uncomfortable, the growth associated with that. And so man, I'm fired up about it."
In his first piece of analysis for NBC, Tomlin says he believes Aaron Rodgers -- who has yet to announce whether he will play this season -- will be the Steelers' quarterback in 2026.
"Man, if you got a gun to my head, I'd say it's AR," Tomlin said. "I just think, Aaron, I just think being around him for the 12 months that I'm around him, he's got a love affair with the game of football and not only the game, but the process, the informal moments, the development of younger guys, the interaction with teammates. I think he has an addiction to that, and there's only one way to feed it. And certainly he is still capable and in really good shape. And so I think at the end of the day, he'll play football."
Tomlin was a bystander to the just-completed NFL draft for the first time in two decades. Instead of sitting in a war room, he said he watched it from a cigar bar with some friends.
"Supposedly watching the draft, but you start telling war stories and so forth, the draft's watching you," Tomlin said with a laugh. "But it was fun to watch it through a different lens. And when you're not on the clock, you can just appreciate what a significant moment that is for the young people. And so to watch those guys get drafted, man, and live out a component of their dreams. Now we all know now the work starts, but that was a big night for those guys and it's just fun to just watch it from that perspective."