Mike Tomlin to join NBC’s Sunday night NFL pregame show: Sources

Mike Tomlin, one of the most intriguing NFL TV prospects in years, is headed to NBC to be a top studio analyst on its Sunday night pregame show, “Football Night in America,” sources briefed on the move told The Athletic on Tuesday.

Tomlin, 54, has been eyed by sports TV executives for more than a decade because of his success as a Super Bowl-winning Steelers coach, his knowledge of the game and his unique phraseology.

Fox showed some interest in Tomlin, but NBC had the biggest need for his services. The network is reimagining its pregame show, a move that has already led to Tony Dungy’s dismissal after 17 seasons.

The roles of Rodney Harrison, Jac Collinsworth and Chris Simms are also in question as the network seeks more current star power and fewer people on the show. NBC Sports declined to comment.

Tomlin will join host Maria Taylor, ex-Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett and Devin McCourty on set. NBC still must re-sign McCourty. Insider Mike Florio is expected to return to the program. Matthew Berry has been a fantasy football contributor on the show.

Of all the Sunday NFL pregame shows, NBC’s has had the highest ratings, but that is largely because it airs before the network’s prime-time game of the week, compared to the late-morning and noon studio offerings from CBS, Fox, ESPN and NFL Network.

Next season, NBC could hit the road full-time. In recent years, the main crew, featuring Taylor, was mostly in NBC’s Stamford, Conn., studios, while Collinsworth, Dungy and Harrison had been on site at the games. NBC has looked into forgoing the hybrid approach and using fewer personalities.

Tomlin has been the network’s No. 1 target. Fox was originally viewed as the favorite for Tomlin due to his close relationship with the network’s NFL insider, Jay Glazer, and because the network had not yet replaced retired Hall of Fame coach-turned-analyst Jimmy Johnson.

After this past season, Tomlin stepped down as the Pittsburgh Steelers coach following 19 years in which he never had a losing season. His teams made the playoffs 13 times. They advanced to two Super Bowls, beating the Arizona Cardinals in 2009 when Tomlin was just 36. However, as Ben Roethlisberger aged and the Steelers struggled to find a new quarterback, Tomlin lost his final seven postseason games.

The Tomlin sweepstakes was watered down partly because the NFL’s desire to renegotiate its 11-year, $110-plus billion deals looms over all TV rights holders. The NFL has opt-outs in the agreements at the end of the decade, but is trying to extract more money from its main partners, including CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC/ESPN and Amazon Prime Video. The platforms would have the advantage of knowing for certain that the deals would go through the 2030s without the threat of losing the games at the end of this decade.

CBS is expected to be first on the NFL’s list to renegotiate its agreement because its situation is slightly different. With CBS’ owner, Paramount, in the midst of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, the NFL can invoke a change-of-ownership clause in its contract with CBS, forcing the network to the table this year.

The threat of adding hundreds of millions, or even a billion, more to what it pays the NFL has made some networks a little hesitant to shell out even more money for personalities.

This left NBC executives in the prime position because of their desire to add a potential star. And it went out and got him.

For how long is the question now, as Tomlin could conceivably return to coaching. His predecessor with the Steelers, Bill Cowher, walked away from coaching at 49 in 2007. He went to CBS and, though mentioned for many coaching jobs over the years, Cowher, now 68, has remained on “The NFL Today.” Tomlin will likely have to grapple with whether to coach again.

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