Carson Palmer responds to Mike Tomlin denial of USC rumors

Last week, former USC star Carson Palmer dropped Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s name as a USC coaching candidate on the Dan Patrick Show. Back with Patrick on Monday, Palmer responded to the name-drop for the first time.

Palmer was asked about possible front-runners to replace Clay Helton, who was fired in September. He named some known candidates — James Franklin and Luke Fickell — but threw Tomlin out as a “wild card.”

Twitter went bananas, and Palmer tried to clear things up about Tomlin’s potential candidacy when he returned for his weekly appearance on Patrick’s show.

Carson Palmer joined us for the first time since he threw Mike Tomlin's name out as a wildcard for the #USC job. He discussed some of the reaction he got to the interview.

For Carson's full appearance: https://t.co/rIezrh8yX9 pic.twitter.com/KIrWNMnTQw

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) November 1, 2021

“That got a little bit of attention for me throwing a wild card out there,” Palmer said. “Hey, us Trojan fans can dream. That’s a dream scenario picking up a guy like Mike Tomlin going to USC. But it’s a wild card, and it got a little bit of attention, obviously.”

He’s right. Tomlin would be a “dream scenario” for any team — college or professional. He has a 149-81-1 career record in the NFL and led the Steelers to the Super Bowl XLIII title in 2008.

But before he headed to the NFL, Tomlin was the defensive backs coach at Cincinnati from 1999-2000. Even though it’s been more than 20 years, he’s had enough success to surely get any team excited to have him aboard.

And if there’s anyone who could have some insight on USC’s plans to replace Helton, it’s Palmer. He’s a team Hall of Famer and won the Heisman Trophy in 2002 when he led the Trojans to the Orange Bowl.

Tomlin: ‘There’s not a booster with a big enough blank check.’

In his press conference last Tuesday, the current Pittsburgh Steelers head coach addressed the rumors and speculation that he could possibly leave his NFL career to take the USC job.

“I don’t have time for that speculation,” Tomlin said emphatically. “That’s a joke to me. I’ve got of one of the best jobs in all of professional sports. Why would I have any interest in coaching college football?”

It’s important to note Mike Tomlin has no background or experience in coaching at the collegiate ranks and he’s widely regarded one of the top NFL coaches year after year.

The Steelers frontman closed out his response with another statement making it abundantly clear he’s not leaving his current post in Pittsburgh.

“Never say never, but never,” Tomlin added. “There’s not a booster with a big enough blank check.”

For now, it appears as if Mike Tomlin has absolutely no interest in the USC Trojans vacancy.