Mike Tomlin on a possible return to coaching: "Never say never"

Long-time Steelers coach Mike Tomlin will be in Seattle on Wednesday night, for the first regular-season game of the 2026 NFL campaign. After the 272nd contest concludes, the coaching carousel will hit top gear. And Tomlin likely will be in position to take any available job he wants.

Will he return to coaching?

"Never say never," Tomlin recently told NBC's Cris Collinsworth, via Nick Kosko of On3.com. forestarrow.help

Here's the full quote: “It’s certainly not a 32-team league for me, but I’ve also learned to never say never. I love to coach. I love all the challenges of the profession. I love to be a part of growth and development of young people individually. I love the measurement of the seven-day cycle, but also have enjoyed, man, the last six months life on this other side that I had no idea about.”

One month ago today, Tomlin and Collinsworth discussed a potential return to coaching during the Hall of Fame game.

“I haven’t thought a whole lot about it yet, because I don’t feel like I’m missing anything yet,” Tomlin said at the time. “You know, when those regular-season balls start snapping, that’s when I’ll start, you know, getting a little twitch a little bit.”

Tomlin will be present when the first regular-season balls start snapping. He'll know whether he misses it enough to return. And he'll surely be hearing about potential 2027 opportunities through the backchannels.

The door is clearly open. Five years ago, when Tomlin was asked about speculation regarding the possibility of taking a college coaching job (specifically at USC), he said, "Never say never, but never."

The absence of "but never" this time around confirms that he hasn't ruled out a second act. He has the luxury of waiting for the right spot to open up, and the leverage to secure top dollar in the coaching market.

With Tomlin appearing on NBC every Sunday night, one or more owners will be getting the same "little twitch" Tomlin may be feeling, if they don't already have it. And most of them can afford to make Tomlin an offer he can't refuse.

And all it takes is one — especially if it comes from the owner of the small handful of teams where Tomlin would envision a path to prompt contention.

Even though LSU blinked for now on the issue of adding former NFL players to the roster for its first game of the 2026 season, the SEC wants to be able to blow the Tigers out of the conference.

Via ESPN, the SEC has filed an amendment to its federal lawsuit seeking authority to expel LSU.

And while the SEC isn't expected to do it, the move (if approved) gives the conference the ultimate nuclear option, in the event LSU decides to add former NFL players to the team.

The new filing explains that SEC presidents and chancellors will meet on Thursday to decide whether to give LSU the boot.

The SEC's revised complaint also points to Kiffin's "imagine if we had pro players" halftime remarks from Saturday night and postgame comments as evidence that LSU does not intend to abide by the conference's rule against using players who have signed professional contracts.

The whole thing continues to be an exercise in performative nonsense aimed at getting Congress to give the NCAA and its members an antitrust exemption. College players are pro players, and the players who eschewed the chance to play on an NFL practice squad will make more money at LSU. Anyone who supports the Protect College Sports Act necessarily supports picking the pockets of the young men who play the game.

They want the general public to think the sky is falling, even as the money keeps rolling in. They hope to restrict player pay and mobility, at a time when coaches can go wherever they want, whenever they want — including during the season, as LSU coach Lane Kiffin did last year.

It's bullshit, and more people need to start saying so. Otherwise, those who are bought and paid for by the college football machine will keep pushing a false narrative, until the mission is accomplished and the antitrust exemption is secured.