{"id":861072,"date":"2026-08-19T17:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861072\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:50:23","slug":"nbc-reportedly-backloaded-mike-tomlin-contract-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861072\/","title":{"rendered":"NBC reportedly \u2018backloaded\u2019 Mike Tomlin contract \u2014 here’s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday, Mike Tomlin appeared on\u00a0The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/a>. \u201cLet me get comfortable, man. This is unbelievable,\u201d Tomlin said before reacting to a montage of his \u201cTomlinisms\u201d from his 19-year tenure<\/a> as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n

Tomlin joined NBC\u2019s\u00a0Football Night in America<\/a> and made his NBC debut<\/a> in April. On Aug. 6, Tomlin made his\u00a0FNIA\u00a0debut as part of the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game broadcast and earned rave reviews<\/a>. The Super Bowl champion is getting really comfortable, really quickly in broadcast.<\/p>\n

NBC wants to make him so comfortable that he never wants to leave, according to Andrew Marchand.<\/p>\n

Marchand named Tomlin as the \u201cbiggest NFL TV signing\u201d of this offseason on the latest\u00a0Everybody Loves Sports Media episode<\/a>. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s been a guy who network executives have been looking at for a long time. When I\u2019d ask them \u2014 probably going back a decade \u2014 \u2018Who\u2019s No. 1 on your list who is an active either player or coach?\u2019 Tomlin was almost always No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNBC snares him, big-money deal,\u201d Marchand continued. \u201cI think a little backloaded, so they want him to stay. That\u2019s an incentive for him to stay. Could he go back to coaching? He says no, but we\u2019ll see. I think he\u2019ll be under the spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8\ud83d\udcfa Interesting nugget on Tomlin\u2019s NBC deal as he could be in TV forever or back on the sidelines next year \u2026<\/p>\n

Full pod \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47 https:\/\/t.co\/6lAhsqBj6B<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/A6xX33WO7V<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) August 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Tomlin stepped down from his Steelers post after the team\u2019s blowout loss to the Houston Texans in the AFC wild-card round in January. He walked away as a top-10 winningest coach in NFL history<\/a> with 201 career wins, including the playoffs, and never had a losing season.<\/p>\n

In the days after Tomlin departed the Steelers, NFL insider Jay Glazer reported<\/a> that Tomlin was \u201cdone\u201d and had \u201cbeen done\u201d with the NFL, nipping any rumors of a return to coaching. Tomlin addressed it himself<\/a> while in the booth with Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico during the Hall of Fame Game.<\/p>\n

Mike Tomlin on if he might get the itch to coach again. #Steelers<\/a> #NFL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/drHJudVyrw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Steelers Depot 7\u20e3 (@Steelersdepot) August 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t thought a whole lot about it yet because I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m missing anything yet,\u201d Tomlin said. \u201cYou know, when those regular-season balls start snapping, that\u2019s when I\u2019ll start getting a little twitchy a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much can change in a year, but as it stands, Tomlin seems primed to follow in Bill Cowher\u2019s footsteps. In January 2007, Cowher resigned<\/a> as Steelers head coach and joined\u00a0The NFL Today on CBS<\/a> the following month. For years, hope and rumors persisted that Cowher would eventually become an NFL head coach again. Nearly 20 years later, he remains on CBS, comfortable as ever.<\/p>\n

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