Steelers Mike Tomlin shuts down idea of taking USC head coaching job

Mike Tomlin has made it abundantly clear he wants to stay in Pittsburgh. Here’s what the Steelers head coach said about the rumors of him taking a job at USC.

Well, it sounds like we can finally put the Mike Tomlin rumors to rest… at least for now. On October 25th, former USC quarterback and long-time NFL signal-caller Carson Palmer spoke on the Dan Patrick Show. He claimed that Mike Tomlin was a ‘wildcard’ to land the head coaching position at USC next season.

Since then, Tomlin has been at the center of discussion for Steelers fans. In a press conference on Tuesday, Pittsburgh’s head coach addressed these rumors and shut them down entirely. Here’s what the long-time NFL head coach had to say, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

"“That’s a joke. Why would I have any interest in coaching college football. I have one of the best jobs in the NFL. Never say never, but never. There’s not a booster with a big enough checkbook.”"

It certainly sounds like Mike Tomlin has zero interest in doing anything other than coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers right now as he admits that his position is one of the best jobs in football.

So what is the long-term plan for the Steelers head coach?

How long will Mike Tomlin be with the Steelers?

With the end of an era rapidly approaching in Pittsburgh, fans have been wondering just how much longer Mike Tomlin intends to be with this team. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is likely to hang up his cleats following the 2021 season, while general manager Kevin Colbert has been going year-to-year on his contract for quite some time now.

Pittsburgh has found an extraordinary amount of success under Tomlin during his tenure with the team. Unfortunately, that has not equated to many wins in the playoffs over the past decade.

Since 2011, the Steelers have just 3 playoff wins and Tomlin’s team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016, via Pro Football Reference. While his team has never suffered a losing record, fans are starting to get impatient with Pittsburgh’s lack of success in the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see just how long Mike Tomlin intends to stick around as the Steelers will clearly be going through a transition phase following the 2021 season. Still, I would have to imagine that the Rooney family is going to give him as long as he wants to be the head coach of this team. Right now, that sounds like the foreseeable future.