Mike Tomlin Steps Down! Now What for Him and the Steelers?

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0:49welcome to the ringer nfl show i'm your host shiel kapadia breaking news in the nfl on tuesday mike tomlin stepping down as the pittsburgh steelers head coach after 19 years a huge move with ripple effects around the nfl we're going to talk about the different angles What does Mike Tomlin do? Should anyone try to trade for him? Is he going to join TV? Is he going to join the podcasting world? Is there something else he's going to do? We're going to get to all of it with my guest today, the Ringers, Billy Gill. Let's take a break. We will come back with Billy. The Ringer NFL Show is presented by FanDuel.

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2:13All right, we are back here on the Ringer NFL show talking Mike Tomlin with our friend, Billy Gill. Billy, I feel like there are three ways this goes here with Mike Tomlin. I want to get into all of them. One is he gets traded and he's coaching somewhere next year in the NFL, not with the Steelers, but somewhere else. That's one option. Option number two, sits out a year, two years, maybe three years, but eventually he comes back, he coaches in the NFL. And then option number three, he goes the Bill Cowher route, and he's just like, you know what? TV's kind of fun, nice lifestyle. I'm not going to coach at all.

2:50So I want to get into all three of those. Let's start with the first one, okay? Because this was surprising news. He steps down. The Steelers have his rights. So if another team wants to hire Mike Tomlin, they have to trade for him. What do you think about the likelihood of this? Is there a team out there that you say, hey, maybe one of these teams, there's eight openings out there. Maybe one of these teams, Cardinals, Falcons, Ravens, Browns, Raiders, Dolphins, Giants, Titans, maybe one of these teams says, you know what? I'm going to trade for Mike Tomlin.

3:20Sheil Kapadia:Okay. So do we want to do this logically or do we want to do this like fantasy land in terms of like, which is most likely? Because here's how I look at the situation. If you want to do this logically, what it took to get Sean Payton from the Saints to the Broncos was a first-round pick, a second-round pick, and then the Saints sent over a third-round pick to Denver as part of the deal. So you're looking at a one and a two, right? But you'd have to be a team that is already set at the quarterback position, you would think, right, if you're thinking logically. Because if you're a team in full rebuild mode, it wouldn't make sense to trade a high draft pick or high first rounder to get Tomlin if you still have holes on the actual team.

4:06Sheil Kapadia:Right. That's my thinking. Well, it is. It's a great question. Like, what does Mike Tomlin want? Is he just like, man, I'm sick of being in the same spot for 19 years. I still want to coach, but I just want something new. You know, sometimes we want something new in life. It could be that, but it could be. I think you're right. I think more logically, he's probably like, all right, if I'm going to go somewhere, I want to be there for a while. I want to win. I want to get out of the first round. So I should probably look for somewhere that has a great quarterback situation. And other than Baltimore, I don't know that there's a place that has a great quarterback situation.

4:40Sheil Kapadia:I think the Giants have an OK quarterback situation, right? I mean, I would definitely avoid Cleveland if I'm him. I don't know that this is like hot take territory. We're just going like, let's go over at 15. You don't want to go to the Raiders if you want to do that. Mike Tomlin, it wouldn't make sense to me, if we're going to have a serious thinking discussion here as to where he might go, it wouldn't make sense to me for Mike Tomlin to take a bad job where he's going to have to rebuild a team when his whole thing has been having a winning record every year of his 19-year head coaching career, right?

5:12Sheil Kapadia:Why would he leave where he's been to then go take on a rebuild project and go 4-13 or something? You know, like that wouldn't make any sense. So you have to go a place like you're saying where you have the pieces. It's just, you need a change of scenery, which is kind of where you said it. And we've kind of hinted at it for a couple of weeks. Baltimore's looking pretty good there, Sheel. Well, did you see that Steve Bishotti was asked about this? Yeah. You saw that and he said, wouldn't that be interesting? Only if John Harbaugh takes the Pittsburgh job. So Steve Bishotti, Ravens owner, thank you for listening to the Ringer NFL show.

5:50because Billy had this idea, what, like two weeks ago, three weeks ago. I mean... Honestly, you know what's funny about this, Billy, is that we were joking about it and Bashadi's joking about it. It actually would make sense from a football perspective.

6:03Sheil Kapadia:It's not the craziest thing in the world, and he was even joking about it, but when they asked him, they broke the news to him because the news came out while he was in the middle of that press conference. So he didn't actually have time to think about it and give a response where it's almost like he goes back and he's like, would that be the craziest thing in the world? Like, maybe this is something we want to do. And because of the fact that they barely missed the playoffs, I mean, I'd have to look, but you're looking at like a mid first round draft pick that you're giving up. You already have a quarterback.

6:37Sheil Kapadia:You already have a running back. You've had to play him all these times. Now, I don't think that the Steelers would actually do that. That's the question. They're going to say, we're not trading him to the Ravens, but what if the Ravens are the only team that offers a pick and they look at it and say, all right, you know, if that's what you want to do, then go ahead and do it. Maybe they say no hard feelings. You know, it's like a breakup type thing. You know, you tell them, hey, we had a great— Those don't always go well. They don't always go well. Do they ever go well? I mean, sometimes. Okay, so maybe it's one of those.

7:08Sheil Kapadia:Maybe it's a situation where, like, both partners are cheating on each other, so it's kind of like, that's just—what are we doing here? But I don't think that that was the case here. But we did talk like, did Tomlin want to win last week? Did he want to lose last week? And now he goes and he steps down, which I think this season we have seen like a record number of like words used for the splitting up, right? It's like parted ways, stepping down. Then there's been the firings. It's been every like cinnamon in the book we've seen so far for coaches not being coaches of their teams anymore. You know, I think Pete Carroll started this a few years ago and they're like, Pete's just going upstairs in a different role.

7:47And I'm like, really? That feels weird. And then like two days later, he was out of the building. So yeah, teams, when they have these long tenured coaches who have done good things, they just, you know, inside they feel a little guilt and they're like, we don't want to say we just fired them. So I think that's what's happening here. But let's assume Baltimore is not going to happen. I think the Giants and the Falcons are the two that I would just keep an eye on because the Giants have had so much trouble finding a head coach. They want stability. They're dying to have a situation like the Steelers have, where they don't hire a head coach for so long.

8:20So I think he raises the floor there. Maybe it works out with Dart. Maybe it doesn't. They got some talent on the defensive line. They got Malik Nabar. So that's one to keep an eye on. And the Falcons have some talent. Now that doesn't solve his quarterback situation, but like Michael Penix Jr. is at least sort of a mediocre, competent type quarterback. You're in a terrible division. That's a thing. Yeah, so maybe that one would be. There's not all these expectations that you got to win playoff games. Like you go to the playoffs, he's going to be a hero in Atlanta.

8:50Sheil Kapadia:Now, I don't want to push this too far because I feel like we've already kind of pushed it far with like conspiracy theories. And some of them have come close to coming true over the past weeks. But are we done with the openings? Because there were the LeFleur whispers out there. So is this a situation where, OK, maybe we send them to Green Bay. That's going to be, you know, that's a playoff team. so their first rounder is going to be low. It's going to be not even the same division, not even the same conference, so we can send him to Green Bay. He's been in Pittsburgh. Cole's not going to bother him.

9:22Sheil Kapadia:He has a quarterback there. Micah Parsons is going to come back from injury. Is that a potential destination? Should that become available? So you're saying that the Packers fire LaFleur and then trade for Tomlin, but the Ringer's editor-in-chief, I didn't tell you this, Ben Glicksman sent me a little message. He wrote a great piece on Mike Tomlin a couple weeks ago, and he brought up this idea. He's a big Steelers fan. What about Tomlin for LeFleur straight up and the Steelers sign Malik Willis? That had my attention, Billy, because like you're saying, Tomlin now goes to Green Bay. He's got a team.

9:59He's got a quarterback. He can compete for Super Bowls right away. Packers fans, they get a little change there. And then the Steelers, you're still getting a good head coach. You haven't had a good offense in how long? Now you got it. If nothing else, a very good offensive mind. You sign a quarterback in Malik Willis. No one's given up any draft capital. You got two of these big franchises in the NFL. Again, that's not my idea. That's Ben Glixman of the Ringer, but that had my attention.

10:26Sheil Kapadia:I mean, I think as bad as this sounds, I don't think the Steelers is a good job. I would not want to be LaFleur in that situation, right? Because you now don't have a head coach. I mean, if you're hired as the coach, you'd be the coach. but you don't have a quarterback. DK Metcalf is expensive. If you're starting over with a new coach and a new quarterback, maybe you say, let me try to move some of these deals. You have TJ Watt, which is great, but it's not a team that... I think he got the most out of that group of Steelers that you could possibly get out of that group. So the Steelers seemingly looks like it could be somewhat of a rebuild for the next coach.

11:03I think that's right. I think it's a reset. He probably knows that. They probably had conversations about that. He didn't want to do that. And maybe that's why he's moving on. All right, so those are some immediate trade options. Now, the next option, I actually think this is the most likely one, which he doesn't coach in the year 2026. This TV thing. I mean, every person on TV is like, Mike Tomlin's going to be on TV. So maybe they know something. I don't know. You don't know. But maybe he goes on TV for a year and he looks at, hey, which of these jobs might be open a year from now? because that's very interesting.

11:39I wrote down a bunch of names here. The Buffalo Bills, if they don't win the Super Bowl this year and don't get over the hump next year. I mean, who knows? The Jets, all right. Not very interesting, but still. The Bengals might be a little weird in division, but who knows? Maybe he looks at it and says, Joe Burrow, go coach Joe Burrow. Yes, please. I'll go do that. The Indianapolis Colts, not that interesting. Here are some of the ones I found interesting. The Kansas City Chiefs, Billy. I don't know how long Andy Reid wants to coach. I don't know what next year looks like for them. Mike Tomlin closes out his career coaching Patrick Mahomes, trying to get him back to the top of the mountain with the Kansas City Chiefs.

12:20I could kind of see that one.

12:22Sheil Kapadia:Wow. So in that situation, poor Spags. Spags has been sitting around. He'll take these job interviews. He'll go for like the Giants job. He'll interview whatever. But it's really, you know, his hope is for like, I would love to take over this Chiefs job when Andy Reid gets out of the way. and poor Spags gets passed over from Mike Tomlin. I mean, it's worse quarterbacks to have to coach than Patrick Mahomes for sure out there. Interesting. Now, can I ask you a question if this is the situation? So in this situation now, he sits out for a year or maybe two years waiting for the right perfect opportunity to present itself.

13:00Sheil Kapadia:Now, there's one thing that we can look at. What happens if he truly follows in the footsteps of Bill Cowher and says, you know what? This is a lot easier. Like, I'm a lot happier. I don't think I need to get back into coaching. Is that something that we want? Because he's coached for 19 years as a head coach, but he's only 53 years old. So it's not like he's an old guy. I think he has years of coaching left in him. Now, here's the other part of this equation where you're saying, like, maybe he goes out and maybe he takes this TV gig for a year or two until he finds the right fit. I have another idea.

13:35Sheil Kapadia:And tell me what you think of this idea. I would like to, and I don't have this authority, so I'm going to do it with you to co-sign. And then if any trouble comes of this, you will be a co-signer on this. So hopefully you're in the headquarters this week, so you'll probably hear about this before I will. I would like to formally invite Mike Tomlin to co-host this show with us next season. What do you think? I'm in. I will co-sign it, not just to take the bullet for you in case someone says, why did you say that? We're actually looking into this and now you put it out there for millions to listen to.

14:08No, I think it's a great idea. I've actually heard him on a podcast before on the Pivot podcast with Ryan Clark. One of the best coaching interviews I've ever heard. And you're right. You know, you go on TV and we get to talk in 30 second snippets and we got to put on a suit and tie. Like you said, you got to travel. Now you're staying in a hotel and someone next to you on the plane is being annoying. You don't want any of that. You want to be in your home. You got some joggers on. You know, he's a stylish guy. You can still wear the aviators if he wants. And he can join us on the Ringer NFL. But I think that's great because I was looking at the other guys who are available here, the coaches who currently got fired or stepped down, like you mentioned.

14:47And I think he is number one on the power rankings of potential podcasters to join the Ringer NFL show. I was looking at the other names here. John Harbaugh maybe would be good. I don't know that he would. What about Mike McDaniel? Billy, you're in Miami. Would he be good?

15:04Sheil Kapadia:I have two that I think might be good of the available head coaches that were let go this season. And maybe you'll have others too. Mike McDaniel's one that I think would be good. I think that he would have fun. I think that he'd kind of go out there and he'd say things. I think he'd be loose. I think Mike McDaniel, I mean, we saw him on Hard Knocks and we saw him on the sidelines, he seems like a guy that, I don't want to say likes the spotlight and likes the attention, but he likes to show his personality, I think. So you know what? I would like to, and Sheil, you can co-sign this if you want or if you don't want, I would like to formally invite Mike McDaniel to co-host this podcast in the next season.

15:44You can't just invite everybody, Billy. Well, we do do a daily show. Actually, maybe you can do that.

15:49Sheil Kapadia:Cast a wide net. You know, you're not going to, look, go back to like the whole dating thing sometimes you know you have to go out there you have to see there's plenty of fish in the sea you have to not just put all your eggs in one basket when you want a coach to come on and co-host with you you say hey here's two or three feelers out there and then you kind of make it a little bit of a competition and then it goes from the situation where we're looking for a co-host or we're looking for a guest to hey can can we go on there like is there even room to do this is there not so we got to put it out there and say hey we're open for business as well and she'll saying that i mean i don't know how things work around here i don't know who signs the checks but we're open for business if there's a coach that was fired out there we'd like to have you on next year but only only if you're mike tomlin mike mcdaniel and here's one that you might disagree with me with but i've seen him in some interviews brian dable i think brian dable is a good podcast you don't like him as a podcast guest yeah he's someone that uh he's someone that can have some fun in the right context the only thing with him that i'm worried about though is I feel like he might be more concerned with what his next gig is.

16:56Sheil Kapadia:That's what I'm saying. We don't want someone who's just renting space with us. We want someone committed. He's looking for his next job. You know, he's a fiery guy. Maybe we needle him. You know, we like to needle each other. That makes for a good podcast. We needle, you needle me all the time. You needle him. Now, all of a sudden, we're on a weird group chat and he's going, he's not answering. You're side texting me going like, Like, oh, man, is Dave's upset with us? I didn't mean that joke about, you know, whatever. So I think that, and that one also, I could see us getting in person. Maybe we have an argument.

17:29He's fiery. He could start throwing throws. Now we got an HR violation. So I would say no to Dave. I thought Pete Carroll was my third one. He's done a Ringer pod before. He's already in the family. He probably has an email, Pete Carroll at theringer.com, whatever. He probably has a microphone, whatever it is. So, you know, he was the third one I had there. So let's think about that. The other guys didn't really interest me. Those guys interested me. All right, let's take a break. We come back. I got some other stuff on this Mike Tomlin situation I want to throw. Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigued?

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19:35And I did notice you said he's only 53 years old. Do you notice the older you get, you start throwing out the they're only and the number gets higher. Like when you were 12, if someone said they were 53 years old, you're like, oh my gosh, how did they make it that far? Now you're like, he's only 53 years old. So I did notice that, but I also appreciate that. And I was thinking, Billy, the Bill Cower thing is probably underrated. You know, he leaves and every year for a while there, it was like, is he going to come back to the NFL? And he's just like, no, this is too good of a life. And so then I was thinking, is coaching in the NFL overrated?

20:13You know? And so I made some pros and cons. Can I throw them your way? Are you ready for this? You can't. You can't, but I had a light bulb went off in my head

20:20Sheil Kapadia:when you started talking. Do you want to say it? Go ahead. I'm going to put up, what if? Yeah. What if? Phil Cowher coaches the Steelers now? Yes. Yes. We're on the same page. What if that's the job he was waiting for? His old job. Wow. That would be interesting. Maybe. You know, it could be, but he might be weighing the pros and cons I'm telling you about. So here are the cons, because I feel like it's kind of terrible to be an NFL head coach. You got to get to the office early. You have to leave late. You might sleep there. You know, all these coaches, they're like, oh, we got a match air mattress in the office.

20:56That doesn't seem fun. You work every day, seven days. You're working. You're not like just taking two days off in the middle of the season. You never see your family. You know, like if you throw the football around with your kids before a game, they're like, oh, my father of the year. Look, and that's like the only 20 minutes you see your kids the entire year. And then, so, I don't like any of that. Most of the time, you don't have a great quarterback. We're seeing it with Tomlin. And so, you're kind of just at the mercy of like, who is this schlub we're throwing out there to play quarterback?