Mike Tomlin has revealed he chose to leave the Pittsburgh Steelers after growing tired of the ‘loneliness’ that comes with being a head coach.
The 54-year-old called time on his iconic 19-year stint with Pittsburgh in January, waving goodbye to the team after their AFC Wild Card playoff defeat to the Houston Texans.
On his way out, Tomlin paid tribute to ‘Steelers Nation’ in an emotional statement, albeit without going into any detail about why he made the decision to step down.
Now he has finally spoken out on his Steelers exit in his first appearance on NBC, having agreed to join its flagship Sunday pregame show ‘Football Night in America’ this coming season.
‘It’s probably not an overnight decision, but it’s probably not something that I can articulate or share with people,’ Tomlin said after being asked when he decided to leave Pittsburgh.
‘There is a loneliness with leadership. I just thought it was a good time for me personally, and by that I just mean where I am in life.
Mike Tomlin has finally revealed why he chose to leave the Pittsburgh Steelers in January
The 54-year-old discussed his Steelers exit during a Sunday night appearance on NBC
‘And I thought it was a good time for the organization, to be quite honest with you.’
Tomlin went on to stress that senior players in the team such as TJ Watt, Chris Boswell and Cam Heyward deserved to benefit from the ‘excitement and optimism’ that comes with a new appointment.
‘We didn’t have a lot of success in the playoffs in recent years,’ he admitted. ‘There are some veteran players there, man, guys like Cam Heyward, TJ Watt, and Boswell, man. I thought they were worthy of the excitement and optimism associated with new leadership.’
