Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin appears to be enjoying his new broadcasting job a lot this season. But that’s not going to stop pundits from discussing Tomlin’s potential job opportunities in the NFL entering next year.
The ex-Steelers head coach could have an opportunity with one of the biggest brands in the league — the Dallas Cowboys.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando reported Monday morning an NFL executive told him that if Dallas moves on from head coach Brian Schottenheimer this offseason, the Cowboys should ante up and hire Tomlin.
Sando wrote this from his conversation with the anonymous executive:
“‘The problem there is Jerry’s age (84),’ an exec from another team said. ‘So my thought is, that’s where you start to circle for Mike Tomlin. Maybe he just relents, much like when he got Bill Parcells, when he kind of gave in to the powerful coach a little bit.'”
The Cowboys sit at 3-5 after their Week 9 victory against the Indianapolis Colts. They are three games in the loss column behind the first-place New York Giants with little hope of making a run at an NFC wild card spot.
Tomlin posted a 193-114-2 record as Steelers head coach over 19 seasons. He famously never had a losing season.
Could Former Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Land With Cowboys?
A lot of pundits would argue there’s multiple problems with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. And in fact, age isn’t the biggest one. His apparent lack of urgency to pay a coach top dollar and give up control of the franchise’s direction are arguably bigger issues.
Of course, there’s a connection between those two issues and a head coach’s contract.
“Money equals power for coaches. Paying less for a head coach helps Jones remain the face of the organization, which he obviously enjoys. It also helps that other bottom line: revenue,” wrote Sando.
Jones, though, previously broke his tradition of cheaper contracts for Cowboys head coaches to hire Bill Parcells in 2003. At the time, Parcells was a former Super Bowl-winning coach broadcasting as an ESPN analyst.
Hiring Tomlin would be seen as Jones repeating that history. Tomlin would also be a rather clear upgrade from Schottenheimer, who many pundits considered wrong for the job when the Cowboys hired him in January 2025.
Dallas posted a 43-25 record under, ironically, current Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy from 2021-24. Since hiring Schottenheimer before the 2025 campaign, the Cowboys are 11-14-1.
Why Tomlin Could Fit With Cowboys
Tomlin haters, particularly in the Steelers fan base, might have plenty of jokes for the Cowboys if they hired the former Pittsburgh head coach.
The Cowboys won three Super Bowls early in the Jones era. But since January 1996, Dallas hasn’t been back to the NFC championship game.
Tomlin’s tenure in Pittsburgh followed a similar trajectory. Tomlin led the Steelers to five victories in his first six postseason games. During that time, the team made two Super Bowl appearances.
But over Tomlin’s final 15 campaigns, the Steelers won only three playoffs games. They went to just one championship game during that time.
Tomlin also lost his final seven playoff contests in Pittsburgh.
That record might not be the recipe the Cowboys need to have more success in January. But right now, they aren’t having a lot of success in the first three months of the season.
Tomlin could help there, establishing a winning culture the Cowboys simply don’t have right now. Dallas also has plenty of former Steelers players Tomlin has previous relationships with.
“Tomlin is a defensive coach, and knows Joey Porter, for instance, and he just has a way about himself,” the exec added in his conversation with Sando.
NFL Exec Proposes Ex-Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Lands in NFC East Next Season