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Forget Myles Garrett or A.J. Brown. NBC Sports may have made the NFL’s most consequential move of the off-season by hiring Mike Tomlin for its studio coverage.
Tomlin made a strong regular-season TV debut on Wednesday night during NBC’s season-opening telecast of Seahawks-Patriots. The longtime Steelers coach demonstrated why he was the most desired NFL TV free agent since Tom Brady.
The Super Bowl-winning coach was commanding, succinct, incisive. Tomlin wasn’t Captain Obvious, a mistake many rookie sportscasters make. Instead, he understood from the jump that his job is to help viewers understand the complicated mindset of a Super Bowl-winning coach.
The Super Bowl champion Seahawks are now the hunted, not the hunters, Tomlin warned in the pregame show. They can’t be focused on rings, bling, banners, or the banquet circuit. They must retain their hunger and drive. And Seattle did it too, coming back in the fourth quarter to beat the Patriots 13-10.
Only the Chiefs and Patriots have repeated as Super Bowl champs in the 21st century. Tomlin wisely noted Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is likely using all the talk about the rival Rams to fire up his troops. “That’s low-hanging fruit for Coach Macdonald,” he said.
When host Maria Taylor noted Seahawks QB Sam Darnold wanted to bring his team’s defense up to the podium with him after winning Super Bowl LX, Tomlin reminded viewers that defense wins championships. “That’s a great leader right there. He understands how the bread is buttered,” he said.
The 54-year-old coach, who never had a losing record during his 19 seasons in Pittsburgh, wasn’t perfect. He mistakenly referred to Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba as “JNS.” Taylor laughingly corrected him, noting, “I’m not going to let you do it again.” Tomlin was also quick to turn to fellow analysts Jason McCourty or Jason Garrett when he finished his point, as if he was talking too much. As he gets more comfortable on the set, his body language should improve.
Still, those are quibbles. The bottom line is Tomlin showed huge TV potential. Football Night in America needed a kickstart. Tomlin instantly made the show and the cast feel bigger and better. He’s still young and could easily return to the league. The pull of the sideline is almost irresistible for most former coaches. But if Tomlin wants to do TV, it’s not hard to imagine him ripping off a decade-long run with NBC like Jon Gruden previously did with ESPN. When and if the 67-year-old Cris Collinsworth retires, could Tomlin join Mike Tirico in the Sunday Night Football broadcast booth as a latter-day John Madden? Why not? The pithy coach is known for his Tomlin-isms. He packs a lot of info into a few words. It’s perfect for the booth.
Other thoughts on NBC’s coverage of the Hawks-Pats Super Bowl rematch:
- NBC dropped the polarizing Pro Football Focus grades that were previously displayed during player introductions. They were replaced by each player’s hometown. The switch comes months after Collinsworth sold the company’s enterprise business side to Teamworks, while retaining its consumer business division. CBS Sports’s J.J. Watt applauded the change, writing on X, “This is a fantastic development.”
- NBC’s play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico tangentially covered the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini controversy. But he didn’t delve very much into it apart from noting the “offseason off-the-field headlines” surrounding the Pats. Front Office Sports previously broke the news that Russini, the former NFL insider for The Athletic, is “absolutely” planning a comeback. She’s currently in talks with several possible employers, say sources.
While Tomlin didn’t tackle the Vrabel-Russini elephant in the room on Wednesday, he previously weighed during NBC’s telecast of the preseason Hall of Fame game in early August.
“When games start, winning matters. If they get off to a fast start, they’ve got a chance to quiet some of that noise,” said Tomlin. “If they don’t, that noise could get extremely loud.”
With the AFC champs off to an ugly 0-1 start, the noise could just be starting in New England. “One word to describe the Patriots’ opening night loss in Seattle? Disastrous,” wrote columnist Dan Shaughessy of the Boston Globe. “I feel like my season is over guys… I just feel like we’re going 6-11 now. I’m so depressed,” added Bill Simmons on his eponymous podcast after Pats QB Drake Maye threw three interceptions.
The Ringer founder also noted that he had a tough time not thinking about the Vrabel-Russini scandal during the game.
“I didn’t know if I would think about the offseason with him during the game,” Simmons said. “But I thought about it 20 times.”
