It's been several months now since former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin chose to step down from the position he held for 19 seasons, and the next part of his football journey will begin this season as a member of NBC's Football Night in America.
Tomlin was officially introduced as the next member of the broadcast Sunday night in an interview with Maria Taylor, and he revealed the answer to a question fans have been waiting to hear ever since he departed the team: why now was the time for him to step away from coaching.
Taylor asked Tomlin directly when he knew it was time to move on from coaching the Steelers, and his answer speaks volumes about who he is as a coach and person.
"Ya know, it's probably not an overnight decision," Tomlin said. "But it's not something I could articulate or share with people. It just, there's a loneliness to leadership. I just thought it was a good time for me personally, and by that I mean where I am in life, and I thought it was a good time for the organization to be honest with you."
Mike Tomlin saw the writing on the wall with the Pittsburgh Steelers
You have to respect the honesty of Tomlin. It's never easy to give up something that has been your whole life for nearly 20 years, and doing it for the sake of the organization as well. He added another reason beyond his own personal feelings, specifically related to his respect for his star players.
"We (Steelers) didn’t have a lot of success in the playoffs in recent years. There’s just some veteran players there, guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and (Chris) Boswell that were worthy of the excitement and the optimism associated with new leadership."
Fans criticized Tomlin relentlessly for the Steelers' failures in the playoffs for the past decade, and understandably so. Pittsburgh has always held the Steelers to a high standard, and the fanbase was growing weary of being an easy out in the first round. Tomlin's admission that he wanted to give his players a chance at success under new leadership speaks volumes, and it is yet another example of why he earned a reputation as the NFL's ultimate "players' coach".
Only time will tell if Tomlin's decision to step away actually leads to renewed playoff contention, as new head coach Mike McCarthy hasn't had much more success over the last decade. Still, fans at least have something new to be excited about this season, and Tomlin seems content with his decision. Who knows, maybe we will see him on a different sideline before long.
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