MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
So Mike Tomlin made it abundantly clear on Wednesday that he will not be the head coach at Penn State or at any other college. Ever.
The Pittsburgh Steelers head coach didn’t seem too amused when the Penn State question was raised, actually, in a way to ask him if he knew why he was being linked to the still vacant Nittany Lions job.
The reason he was linked to it, of course, was because Ben “Responsible Behavior” Roethlisberger said on a podcast it was time for the Steelers to clean house and that Tomlin should go to Penn State where he would win a national championship.
Wisely, Tomlin did not dignify Big Feelin’s comments.
“Hey, guys, I don’t have time for that speculation,” he said. “I mean, that’s a joke to me. I’ve got one of the best jobs in all of professional sport. Why would I have any interest in coaching college football?
“That will be the last time I address it. And not only today, but moving forward. Never say never, but never. Okay? Anybody else with questions about any college jobs, there’s not a booster with a big enough blank check.”
Then, as he got up to walk away, he snapped, “Anyone asking Sean Payton about that? You know, anybody asking Andy Reid about stuff like that?”
In fairness, neither Payton nor Reid were in the room, so no, but we get the idea. Tomlin’s only interest is coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers, which a portion of the fans who stuck around to the bitter end of last Sunday’s ugly Steelers loss to Buffalo expressed their belief that he doesn’t do very well.
How about being a Penn State booster who is also a Steelers fan who wants to see Tomlin out as the head coach, and then the day after you get your wish he shows up in State College as the head coach of your school?
But are Steelers fans mostly Pitt Panther fans or Penn State fans? Probably both, but, hey, isn’t firing James Franklin looking better and better for Penn State these days, eh?
They still don’t have a coach in State College and Franklin, just two weeks into being the head coach at Virginia Tech, on National Signing Day 1 flipped 10 Penn State commitments to Blacksburg, sinking the Nittany Lions’ class to No. 150 in the rankings, one spot below FCS South Dakota State.
Twenty-three players have decommitted from Penn State since Franklin’s firing, leaving only two signees in the class of 2026. Eleven of those decommits reunited with Franklin at Virginia Tech.
It’s a world of “Be careful what you wish for,” isn’t it? Which brings us back to Tomlin, who will have the Steelers in Baltimore on Sunday to play the AFC North arch-rival Ravens.
Last time we checked, the Ravens were a 5.5-point favorite. Both teams are 6-6 with Baltimore coming off an embarrassing Thanksgiving loss to Cincinnati, which ended a five-game winning streak after a 1-5 start. Since a 4-1 start the Steelers have lost five of their last seven and they’re a little touchy about that in Pittsburgh. For that matter, they’re pretty annoyed in Baltimore, too.
Everyone’s a little or a lot ticked off, which should make Sunday in Baltimore another old-style physical football game that we have come to expect out of Steelers-Ravens for the past 30 years.
The Ravens might be favored, but Ravens fans should smell a trap. The Steelers are down on their fortunes. They can’t stop the run, which shouldn’t be a problem on Sunday since the Ravens stopped running the ball once they acquired Derrick Henry (you can’t make this stuff up).
Steelers fans are up in arms. They want Tomlin gone yesterday. Of course, many of them wanted him out the day he came in.
The perceived smugness of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has been rubbing the Baltimore fanbase the wrong way for awhile, but Baltimore can live with smugness (see the Brian Billick years). It’s the consistent blowing of significant fourth-quarter leads over the years that has been the real rub against Harbaugh.
Harbaugh claimed again this week that the Ravens are a running team, even though they don’t run the football. Of course, Lamar Jackson claims he isn’t hurt, but he’s hurt.
Meanwhile, Tomlin says he understands why Steelers fans are upset, because he’s upset, too, and it’s his job to get things back on track.
The Ravens and Steelers. Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The more things change, the more they stay the same with these two. Their respective trajectories continue to mirror each other’s, as they have for years – both good and bad.
Truthfully, it remains the best and most compelling rivalry in the phony NFL. Everything about both sides is real and raw, including the stupidity.
The thing is, no matter who wins on Sunday, the AFC North will still come down to the last week of the season because neither team has a kill-shot to put an opponent away, and both have allowed the Bengals and a healthier Joe Burrow back into the picture.
Steelers fans chant, “Fire Tomlin!” Ravens fans booed Harbaugh off the field in week five. Rocky days for the two longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL.
One way or another, it’ll be an ugly day in Baltimore. For one of them. For the time being, anyway.
Penn State’s not that long of a drive. From Pittsburgh or from Baltimore.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT