Mike Tomlin is headed to NBC as a top studio analyst on Football Night in America, moving to television after 19 seasons in Pittsburgh. The 54-year-old will join Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett and Devin McCourty on the set as NBC retools its Sunday night pregame show.
The move follows Tomlin’s decision to step down after the past season, ending a Steelers run that produced no losing seasons, 13 playoff trips and two Super Bowl appearances. His teams won the 2009 title over the Arizona Cardinals, when he was 36, but he also dropped his final seven postseason games, a finish that hung over the late years of his tenure.
NBC’s pregame show has long been the highest-rated of the NFL’s studio offerings, and the network appears ready to keep pushing the format. It has already parted ways with Tony Dungy after 17 seasons and may take the show on the road full-time next season, rather than keeping most of the main crew in Stamford, Connecticut, as it has in recent years.
The hiring also shows how hard the talent market has become. Fox showed interest in Tomlin, in part because it had not yet replaced Jimmy Johnson, while NBC still must re-sign Devin McCourty and is expected to bring back Mike Florio. With the NFL’s current TV deals running through the 2030s in 11-year agreements worth more than $110 billion, networks are lining up marquee names now for a business that may not loosen up soon.
For Tomlin, the shift offers a new stage after one of the most durable coaching runs in league history. For NBC, it is another bet that a familiar voice with championship credentials can keep Football Night in America at the front of the pack.
