Mike Tomlin Finally Shares Why He Left Steelers

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin is in a different situation than he's been in almost two decades, as he's no longer at the helm of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tomlin stepped down from his role as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers following the 2025 season, ending 19 years as the main leader of the franchise, which included no season below .500.

The former Steelers head coach has transitioned into broadcasting and joined NBC Sports as a studio analyst for Football Night in America for the next season.

Tomlin spoke with Maria Taylor about his decision to leave the Steelers, which wasn't an easy one, but one that he thought was right to do at the time he did it. He also mentioned the lack of playoff success and wants some of the veteran leaders to achieve that going forward.

“You know, it’s probably not an overnight decision," Tomlin said. "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 success in the playoffs in recent years and there’s just some veteran players there man, guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and [Chris] Boswell man that I thought that just were worthy of the excitement and the optimism of new leadership.”

Mike Tomlin joins Maria Taylor to talk about his new role on Football Night In America on NBC and Peacock! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/dxiLKFQlw4
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) April 26, 2026

Tomlin Excited For New Role After Steelers' Tenure

There's no doubt that Tomlin had great success during his time with the Steelers, despite some struggles in the playoffs over the past few years.

He ended his Steelers career with 193 wins, tied for the most in franchise history with Chuck Noll (1969-91), and posted the best winning percentage of any Steelers head coach, .628.

Tomlin also made the postseason 13 times, won the AFC North Division eight times and made two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLIII, 27-23 over the Arizona Cardinals.

While it's a tough thing to end one's head coaching career, Tomlin is excited for his new role and how he'll try and imbue his knowledge of football onto those who love the sport this upcoming season.

“I just thought it would be a great way to stay connected to the game and the awesome people in it," Tomlin said. "Players, coaches, executives and exciting about doing that on Sunday night and traveling to different venues and getting that feel for the environment and lastly, I just thought it would 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, it’s going to be some anxiety about stepping into a new space, but good anxiety, it’s good to be uncomfortable with the growth associated with that. I’m fired up about it.”

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