Adam Schefter comments on Mike Tomlin’s future with Pittsburgh Steelers

Live from NRG Stadium ahead of the College Football Playoff final, Adam Schefter discussed the future of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin with members of the Pat McAfee Show.

One member of the set, Tone Digs, first threw out the idea that Tomlin could be headed out of the Steel City after this season.

“Is Tomlin thinking about maybe going to another team? I’m hearing Commanders, I’m hearing his wife loves LA. a few weeks ago when things were going bad, there was talk about it.”

Schefter jumped in after Digs’ comment and said that while he’s not sure what the future holds for Tomlin, there are some folks in NFL circles who believe the longtime partnership could come to an end, especially with so much negativity surrounding the team during parts of the last couple seasons.

“I don’t know what Mike Tomlin is gonna do but I can tell you that people out there in the league think that after this season, maybe he could walk.”

“What’s interesting to me is when Pittsburgh went through the tough stretch they did this year, and I notice that, when you post about the guy, like, there’s so much negativity towards him. So much negativity in Pittsburgh.”

Digs responded: “That was only Matt Canada, and he deserved it.” And Schefter then responded to that: “You’re telling me that city appreciates Mike Tomlin? No.”

McAfee jumped into the exchange and explained his read on how the whole Matt Canada saga played out.

“I think Mike Tomlin backing Matt Canada there for a few weeks, which I think he felt obligated to do. ‘I hired this guy to be the offensive coordinator, publicly, I got to take a stand for my guy’ — which is how Tomlin has always operated. I think the people that were on Tomlin’s side still in Pittsburgh, they were like, ‘Alright, we can’t with this guy. Like, it’s the same-old same-old.’ So then when Tomlin makes the move, I think he won a lot of people back.”

Tone Digs agreed the Canada firing helped earn some respect back from Steeler fans, though he still wonders if they’re happy with the recent run of success. To which Schefter admits that things haven’t been the best of late, but there’s a reason Tomlin would still be a highly-sought-after coach.

“There aren’t a lot of coaches that would get to stay in one city without winning a playoff game over 6-7 years. That would not happen. But he is Mike Tomlin, he does have the track record he does, and if Pittsburgh didn’t want him, he would get another job like that,” Schefter said with a couple snaps of his fingers. “He’d be the first guy off the street.”