Mike Tomlin certainly doesn't sound like he's in a rush to get back into coaching.
On Jan. 13, Tomlin surprised many when he decided to step down following 19 seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach. And while he has already been linked to future potential NFL head coaching vacancies, Tomlin appears to be quite content with his new life.
"I am having the time of my life to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said on "The Dan Patrick Show." "I've never had an August, man, since I was like 8 years old. I've always been on a football team and in a camp-like setting of some description.
"August was great. I can't wait to see what September is like."
“It’s crazy how quickly you can get used to chilling...” — @CoachTomlin on post-coaching life pic.twitter.com/2PorKiLm93
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) September 3, 2026
Tomlin, 54, has kept himself busy since stepping away from coaching. Shortly after leaving the Steelers, he was seen cheering on his daughter, Harley, who is a member of Georgia's gymnastics team.
Mike Tomlin supporting his daughter at the SEC Gymnastics championship #steelers pic.twitter.com/s2zux65uMD
— Matthew Luciow (@matthewluciow92) March 22, 2026
In June, Tomlin was in Cooperstown to celebrate Andruw Jones' induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This fall, he will begin his first season as an NFL analyst.
Tomlin is staying busy, but he's also made sure to spend time relaxing and doing things that his coaching schedule had previously prevented him from doing. He told Patrick that he recently attended his first family reunion in almost 30 years.
"My pulse rate's a lot lower," Tomlin said with a chuckle. "It's crazy how quickly you can get used to to chilling. I've enjoyed 2026, man. The free time, having an opportunity to really just focus on my wellness, getting into shape and things of that nature. When you lead a football team and a football organization, sometimes you put yourself last, and so it's been good to kind of focus on some things like that and to really just have time to be present with my family and friends."
At this point, Tomlin appears to be following in the footsteps of Bill Cowher, his predecessor in Pittsburgh. Following a long and successful run as Steelers coach, Cowher retired after the 2006, quickly got into broadcasting and never returned to the sideline despite receiving interest from teams over the years.
Tomlin's legacy as an NFL coach is pretty secure. A Super Bowl XLIII champion, Tomlin is 10th all time among NFL coaches in career wins (193) and 17th in career winning percentage (.628) for coaches who coached in at least 100 games. Tomlin's 201 total wins are tied for 10th-most in NFL history. He is tied with Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll for the most regular-season wins in Steelers history.
In 2008, Tomlin -- 36 at the time -- became the youngest coach at the time to win the Super Bowl. In 2010, Tomlin led the Steelers to another Super Bowl appearance. Tomlin also guided the Steelers to eight division titles, 13 playoff appearances, 16 winning seasons and zero losing seasons.
Pittsburgh's lack of playoff success in recent years, however, was part of the reason why Tomlin decided to step away. The Steelers lost their last seven playoff games under Tomlin and haven't won a playoff game since January 2017. Pittsburgh's lack of stability at the quarterback position following Ben Roethlisberger's retirement was one of the main reasons for its recent struggles in the postseason.
Recent playoff woes aside, Tomlin's tenure in Pittsburgh will undoubtedly garner Hall of Fame consideration at some point. Given some of the former coaches who have recently been inducted, it's highly likely that Tomlin will join Cowher and some of his former peers and players in Canton, Ohio, at some point down the road.
While his future in coaching is unknown, Tomlin made it clear that he will continue to cheer on the Steelers, who will be led the season by Mike McCarthy.
"I'm not going to kid myself. I'm going to root for those guys because that's just who I am," Tomlin said of the Steelers. "I spent 19 years there. I had a hand in selecting most of those guys, and so when you have those intimate relationships, certainly that's going to be a component of viewing for me. I don't know how much I'll even fight it."
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