Tomlin: Idea he’s a candidate for college jobs ‘a joke’
PITTSBURGH — Note to big-time college football programs looking for new coaches: Mike Tomlin isn’t interested.
The Pittsburgh Steelers coach said Tuesday he considers it a “joke” that his name has popped up as a potential candidate for places such as USC.
“I got one of the best jobs and in all the professional sports, why would I have any interest in coaching college football?” Tomlin said.
Former Heisman Trophy winner and USC star Carson Palmer told The Dan Patrick radio show that Tomlin was a “wild card” as the Trojans look for someone to replace Clay Helton, who was fired in September.
Former Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley, who worked in the Steelers front office alongside Tomlin for several years before moving on to the Bills, said on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh last week that Steeler fans should be worried about the letters “U-S-C” and “L-S-U.”
Tomlin is 148-81-1 in 15 seasons with the Steelers, one shy of the number his predecessor — Hall of Famer Bill Cowher — reached in the same number of seasons with the club. The Steelers signed Tomlin to a three-year contract extension in April that runs through 2024.
The 49-year-old, who played collegiately at William & Mary before going into coaching, has no connection to USC or LSU. He’s spent the overwhelming majority of his coaching career in the NFL. Tomlin last coached at the college level while serving as the defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati in 1999 and 2000. He joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a defensive backs coach in 2001 and has been in the NFL since then.
Tomlin, whose team is 3-3 heading into a visit to AFC North rival Cleveland (4-3) on Sunday, said this would be the last time he addresses his name in connection — however loosely — with college jobs.
“Never say never, but never,” he said. “Anybody else got any questions about any college jobs? There is not a booster with a big enough blank check.”
NEW YORK — The NFL is not going to issue a report on its 10-month investigation into allegations the Washington Football Team
engaged in harassment and abuse because of its promise to protect the identities of those who testified, Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
Speaking after the first day of meetings for the 32 owners, Goodell said the league wanted to protect the roughly 150 former employees who spoke to outside counsel Beth Wilkinson, who conducted the NFL investigation and amassed six million pages of evidence.
“When you make a promise to protect the anonymity, to make sure that we get the right information, you need to stay with it,” Goodell said. “And so we’re very conscious of making sure that we’re protecting those who came forward. They were incredibly brave.”
Goodell sidestepped a question about releasing a redacted report, saying he felt what the league did was appropriate. He said the league looked forward to responding to inquiries from Congress.
Goodell said the NFL did release a summary of its investigation and that Washington owner Daniel Snyder has not been allowed to handle any of the day-to-day operations of the franchise since July.
“I do think he has been held accountable and the organization has been held accountable,” Goodell said.
Goodell said the most important thing for the league was that the situation not happen again with any team.
“So we think protecting the people that helped us get to that place, the people that unfortunately have to live through that experience, if we respect them and make sure we protect them,” the commissioner said.
The league has released reports in other high-profile investigations into Tom Brady for deflating footballs in an AFC title game, offensive lineman Richie Incognito for alleged racial slur and Ray Rice for domestic violence.
Earlier in the day, members of the NFL’s Social Justice Working Group and the owners were given a copy of a letter by two former employees of the Washington Football Team asking them to make a report public.
“I love for this to be a learning point, not just for the NFL, but for leagues and teams all across that this shouldn’t be hidden,” said Ana Nunez, who worked in the team’s business department until 2019. “There shouldn’t be, no workplace is perfect which is understandable, but there has to be a level of accountability when it comes to toxic culture and sexual harassment.”
Addressing other topics, the commissioner said there has been progress made on getting a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. He believes the current location in Orchard Park, New York, is the likely one but the final decision is up to local officials.
The commissioner said the league has not made a decision on the future of quarterback Deshaun Watson because of pending legal issues from civil cases still being considered. The league is waiting to see all the information gathered in the suits.
The three-time Pro Bowler is facing allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior in 22 active lawsuits and has been inactive for Houston’s first seven games this season.
In other news, the league said earlier in the day it was encouraged by the progress made in preventing any major spread of COVID-19 among its teams, while concerned about an increase in soft tissue injuries.