Tomlin Shuts Down USC Rumor: 'There's Not a Booster With a Big Enough Blank Check'

There are your usual rumor denials; then there's Mike Tomlin's disgust at coaching another football team. 

Longtime Steelers coach Tomlin was asked Tuesday about the possibility of his leaving Pittsburgh for the USC coaching job, and he didn't even entertain the thought. 

"I don't have time for that speculation. That's a joke to me," he said. "I got one of the best jobs in all of professional sport. Why would I have any interest in coaching college football? That'll be the last time I address it." 

Tomlin's disgust at the idea of leaving Pittsburgh didn't stop there. He went on to question the reporters in attendance whether his peers are asked questions like that. 

"Never say never, but never," he continued. "There's not a booster with a big enough blank check. Anybody asking Sean Payton about that? Anybody asking Andy Reid about stuff like that?"

Tomlin, like Payton and Reid, has coached a team to a Super Bowl victory. He's been with Pittsburgh since 2007 and became the youngest coach to win the Lombardi Trophy at just 36 years old back in '09. 

USC fired coach Clay Helton in September and the opening is considered one of the most coveted college coaching jobs in the country. Former USC and NFL quarterback Carson Palmer is helping the program in its coaching search and in a guest appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, he mentioned some possible options and name-dropped Tomlin. 

“You’ve got Penn State, you’ve got Iowa State, you’ve got Cincinnati,” Palmer said, referring to coaches there who could be candidates. “You’ve got a wild card like a Mike Tomlin, if Mike Tomlin wants out.”

But it looks like Palmer and USC will have to look elsewhere to find their man.