The Pomp And Joe Show
10AM - Why Mike Tomlin may have stepped down; coaching candidates emerge; The Steelers need the best coach, not to fall back on their old tendencies
16 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What do we got here, Donnie? We got a Schefter. Okay. Fellas, we got a bombshell. What? After a historic 19-season run, Mike Tomlin just informed his team he is stepping down.
Chapter 2: Why did Mike Tomlin step down after 19 seasons?
Oh, my God, dude.
Fellas, we got a bombshell. It was a line that goes down in fan history, Donnie. Right up there with Ron saying, I'm flabbergasted when Ben said he was talking about retirement. Right up there with Ron talking about Ron Burgundy. Whoops, Ron Jeremy. It goes down in history, Donnie. Fellas, we have a bombshell. What a week it's been here on The Fan. What a week. You talk about big news.
It's a Donnie football Friday. Austin City Limits. Beck told to my left, for some reason, wearing a Yankees cap. Any idea why that's happening, Donnie?
I guess he's going for big market baseball after the Dodgers move last night.
Are you? The Yankees are now small market after the Dodgers. No, I got this at when I was at the Pinstripe Bowl in New York. Ah, okay. I like it. It's classic. I feel like wearing a Yankee hat or at least a New York hat, it's kind of like a fashion type of thing for a lot of people.
You're not really rooting for the Yankees. I don't root for the Yankees. That doesn't mean you're rooting for the Yankees.
I've also made the point to people, do you understand how popular the pirate hat is? Oh, yeah. Huge. It doesn't matter how good or bad the team is. People love just like the simplicity of a Pirates hat.
No doubt. There's no doubt.
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Chapter 3: What were the immediate reactions to Tomlin's resignation?
Donnie rocking a Nike hat, and I have a Golden State Warriors winter cap on just to set all of our headgear before we get started. Donnie, we have so much to talk about today. I heard you tell me that Crowley said this was probably the least talked about Steelers playoff game in history. We might not get to the other playoff games for a while here either because...
Man, when it's the Steelers coach and the Steelers quarterback, we're going to be talking about this until each situation is resolved. And then for 10 years thereafter, it's just these are the two biggest topics in the whole city all the time. The coach and the quarterback. And now we have vacancies. What a week. You announced the news. Where did you see it?
And tell me, tell me what ran through your mind. Did somebody alert you to it? Did you happen to run across it on your phone? I want to know exactly what was going on. And then was there a moment of panic? If I go on the air with this and it's wrong, my career might be over.
Yeah, so the guys were going back and forth. We're only a couple of minutes into the show. Early rants about the playoff loss and how bad it was. Joe, I think Austin wants you to adjust your camera a little bit more angled to you.
Thank you, Lemon.
There we go. The guys were going. They're doing their thing. We're a few minutes in. Now, I'm assuming Austin does this. I know a couple of other producers do this. It might be annoying for your notifications on your phone, but I think it's a requirement, especially if you're one of the guys behind the glass. Yeah. I have my alerts on for Schefter, like no matter what the hell the guy...
will post about I have them on so I'm you know I'm just starting to put like the breaks together for the show I just happen to have like my phone sitting here thank goodness and I like see the you know Schefter notification pop up so that also helps knowing that it's him and it's not Adam Scheffler or some other like phony account that Ron Cook might have gone with right away and I just saw I didn't even like read it I saw it pop up and I saw the graphic with Tomlin in it
So I clicked on it, and it was after 19 historic seasons, Mike Tomlin has informed his team he is stepping down. So I read it quickly. I got in Pony's ear quietly, and I was like, we got to flip this now. Unless you're on Twitter, we have to flip the conversation.
Did he say, Donnie, are you sure? Donnie, are you sure? Or what was his reaction?
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Chapter 4: What reasons are speculated for Tomlin's decision?
cost them would they consider exercising that option if it meant hey we have his control for another year right and if we get to 2027 with him we can get some some compensation back and not just any compensation you look at the coaches that have been traded in the past notably sean payton would be one uh first and second round pick and if tomlin is in as high demand or would be as everybody seems to think he would
That could be just a bonanza, but now it looks like it's not going to happen at all. It's just a pipe dream.
I brought up the other night that trade. It was a first and second to the Saints in exchange for Peyton and a third.
Yeah, Peyton and a third, okay.
Yeah, the Steelers could probably get two firsts. Oh, my God. Think about the way that people around football think of Mike Tomlin.
Yeah, that we know of, yeah.
It was definitely higher than how they thought of Sean Peyton.
Right. You'd think, although Peyton has that offensive background where he walks in and calls your plays and develops your quarterback. So when push comes to shove, I wonder how many teams, let's say Peyton and Tomlin both went on the open market today. Who do you think is more coveted? I say Peyton.
I think Peyton is right now, right this minute. But at the time that Peyton got traded, he also had taken a year off to do TV.
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