Mike Tomlin on viral comment about his contract: 'I certainly could have handled that situation better'

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin grabbed headlines on Monday following the Steelers 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs, abruptly leaving the podium in his post-game press conference after being asked about his contract situation.

Tomlin took the podium again on Thursday and was clearly in better spirits, opening things up by addressing his memorable exit from his last press conference in hilarious fashion.

“Good afternoon. In a little better mood today, man anybody got any contract questions?” Tomlin smiled and said.

Mike Tomlin actually kills me lmaoo 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/biIKxjpfDq

— Teddy💛 (@Teddy_20) January 18, 2024

There’s been a lot of recent speculation surrounding the future of Tomlin as the Steelers’ head coach, recently completing his 17th season with the franchise. He has one year remaining on his current contract with Pittsburgh, with many curious if he will take the organization up on the final year of his deal, but Tomlin felt like Monday following the team’s playoff loss was not the time or place to address the matter.

“I’ll say this, I certainly could have handled that situation better than I did. I’ll also say this, I believe there’s a time and a place for everything. Postgame press conferences are probably not the place to address contract issues and things of that nature,” Tomlin said.

“It’s just a very individual thing and on game day I doubt any of us are in that mindset, certainly I am not,” Tomlin added. “What’s required to do what it is that we do, the amount of focus, pouring into a collective, I’m just not in that mind state and I just don’t believe that’s the appropriate venue to talk about things of that nature. Certainly open and willing to do it today in this venue.”

Tomlin hasn’t had a single losing season during his tenure with the Steelers, one of the most impressive impressive feats of any head coach currently in the NFL. He’s led Pittsburgh to 11 playoff appearances and a Super Bowl XLIII victory in his second season with the franchise. But could this be the end of his journey with the Steelers?

ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently reported that Tomlin is expected to take some time to decide if he’s willing to step away from the team or not following the season, adding that he is not being fired. This is the first time in his career he’s entered the final year of his contract with the Steelers, and it will surely be interesting to see what one of the best coaches in the league decides to do in the near future.