Mike Tomlin isn’t ready to contemplate his next coaching assignment.
But he isn’t exactly ruling out a return to the NFL sidelines at some point in the future.
During an NBC conference call ahead of Sunday night’s game between his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Cincinnati Bengals, Tomlin said he has not “given one iota of thought about coaching,” though he acknowledged that he may eventually need to entertain the idea sooner rather than later.
“I’m sure that some of that’s going to come up in the not-too-distant future, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” he continued. “Really haven’t thought a lot about it. Really excited about my new role and working to get better each and every week.”
The Super Bowl-winning former Pittsburgh head coach joined NBC over the offseason to serve as a studio analyst for the “Sunday Night Football” pregame show, “Football Night in America.”
Tomlin, 54, stepped down as the Steelers’ head coach following the team’s wild-card round loss to the Texans in January after 19 seasons leading the franchise.
He posted a regular-season record of 193-114-2 and made the playoffs 13 times, including a Super Bowl title in 2008 in just his second season with Pittsburgh.
Now behind the microphone, Tomlin has largely received strong reviews for his work on NBC’s pregame and halftime coverage this season.
Sunday’s game will mark the first time Tomlin has appeared in person on the NBC broadcast covering his former team since leaving Pittsburgh.
“I look forward to it because of the relationship,” Tomlin said of the Steelers-Bengals game, via Front Office Sports. “But you know me. … I’m capable of compartmentalizing and getting hyper-focused on the job. But it certainly will be fun to see some guys I’ve got relationships with. There will certainly be a lot of those. But they have a job to do. I have a job to do.
“And so I’m sure everyone’s going to be focused on the task at hand.”
