Mike Tomlin is just several weeks into his tenure as a studio analyst for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, but he is already breaking norms of what typically happens when former coaches become broadcasters.
During halftime of Sunday night’s Broncos–Rams game, Tomlin had some pointed words for the Cowboys, who had bungled the end-of-game sequence against the Ravens in Brazil to lose a heartbreaking game 34-31 in regulation on a last-second field goal by Baltimore kicker Tyler Loop earlier in the day.
Tomlin called the Cowboys’ strategy at the end of the game “somewhat negligent,” and broke down why.
“It was seven seconds left to go in regulation, they kick a touchback,” Tomlin said, implying that Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey could have forced a kick return that would have taken time off the clock. “Baltimore gets the ball on the 35-yard-line.”
Baltimore’s top receiver Zay Flowers was left open for a 27-yard completion as quarterback Lamar Jackson called timeout with a second left on the clock, setting up a 56-yard field goal from Loop.
Tomlin said he was “really surprised” that the Cowboys were playing man-to-man defense on the Flowers play. “Most people in these circumstances are going to play what we call umbrella zones,” Tomlin said.
Tomlin coached the Steelers from 2007-25 and won the Super Bowl in his second season in Pittsburgh. He joined NBC Sports after parting ways with the Steelers following the 2025 season.
While he did not name Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer and/or defensive coordinator Christian Parker during his analysis, it was nevertheless surprising for a coach-turned-broadcaster to criticize fellow members of the fraternity in this manner.
“Mike Tomlin has always had a unique ability to break down what’s happening in a way that connects with every level of football fan,” former NFL Network executive and current Bleav podcast network president Eric Weinberger told Front Office Sports. “And it’s rare for a coach or player to move into television and be the exact same person viewers saw when they were active. What we’re seeing and hearing from Mike on TV is the same person he was before and after games with the Steelers. It’s refreshing.”
Chuck Salituro, who was a longtime news and opinions editor at ESPN, concurred.
“It’s refreshing, accurate, completely fair, professional, and about time,” Salituro said. “The hardest thing in my experience for former coaches and players is to separate themselves from the brethren and tell us how they really feel, especially in their first year of TV work. I always told new analysts you no longer work for the team or the league and with the coaches and players. You work for our audience. The audience has to come before any past allegiances. You owe your best work and professional honesty to the audience first.”
Another element of Tomlin’s broadcasting that has differed from other studio shows in recent memory is how much time he gets for his halftime segments to breathe. Because he is one-on-one with host Maria Taylor, as opposed to sharing a desk with multiple other analysts, he has the space to be more incisive.
The addition of Tomlin this season headlined an overhaul of NBC Sports’s weekly studio show, which included the departures of Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, and Chris Simms. This week, Sunday Night Football will be in Charlotte, where the Panthers will host the Lions.
