The biggest NFL TV signing of the season, NBC rookie Mike Tomlin, immediately dropped one of his Tomlinisms when he reviewed the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks before their game against the New England Patriots.
Tomlin explained how the champions can be “hungry or driven.” He then mentions a “tape worm.” His whole point is, not as the hunter, but as the hunted, you have to look for more.
Although it was a bit confusing, he could have detailed his journey from coach of the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers to studio analyst.
Although Tomlin brought much-needed gravitas to his regular-season debut on “Football Night in America,” his performance left a question rather than a verdict: Does he, to borrow the phrase, have a “Tap Worm”-like drive for TV?
Certainly, Tomlin has a lot of potential. It’s special that he’s on the air because they want to know what he has to say. He looked so comfortable on set that Mariah Taylor set the mark on where to appear every week on the road supporting NBC’s revamped pre-game show.
Tomlin was a little silly, as it’s not entirely clear if this is the end of his career as a coach or if he’s going full John Madden. It provided some insight, but it was a little see-no-wrong without a “wow” moment.
Seahawks injury on defense? Well, that might be a “blessing in disguise,” Tomlin decided, as Seattle head coach Mike McDonald kept his game plans simple and players could be lax. Half-full stuff, sure.
The Seahawks beat the Patriots to start the 2026 NFL season
Tomlin is only 54, even though it seems like he’s been around the NFL forever. When Taylor introduced Tomlin at the top of the pregame, she teased that the staff had to curb Tomlin’s urge to put on the trainer’s headset.
It was a warm and appropriate way to bring Tomlin on board. Like the man who succeeded in Pittsburgh, CBS’s Bill Cowher, Tomlin’s name is likely to be floated around the big coaching job opening. Lam constantly said no. Will it be Tomlin?
Tomlin has long been high on TV executives’ wish lists. He received a big contract from NBC, which has been pushed back a bit to entice him to stay longer, according to sources familiar with the deal but not authorized to speak publicly. NBC clearly wants to build around Taylor and Tomlin.
NBC made a good decision to change the format. His studio show is consistently the most-watched on Sundays because it’s between the end of the afternoon games and the primetime national highlight match. He had too many people on the show and they cut loose Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Jack Collinsworth and Matthew Berry. A new, improved variable immediately appeared: less for each analyst.
Tomlin joins Taylor, Devin McCourty, Jason Garrett and inside linebacker Mike Florio. Although the format was rather informal for “Football Night in America,” it felt a little grand. The staff focused on previewing the opening night game instead of reacting to the afternoon games like the night season.
The best moment of the show was McCourty’s. Following Taylor and Tomlin’s Seattle class on building team chemistry and simulating shadow boxing, McCourty talked about how the old-time Patriots team loosens up with some “trasketball,” setting up garbage pail hoops to shoot. But after a late season loss, Tom Brady said, “Hey guys, it’s playtime, let’s focus.”
In the year Tomlin, who was a 39-year-old McDonald’s junior when he won the Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2009, can take us inside locker rooms and mindsets. How a coach translates it to TV is what breeds success. So while the tapeworm bit has its moments, it should be designed a little better to showcase Tomlin’s unique insights.
“I think you learn about yourself,” Tomlin said. “Once you’ve won a world championship not just as an individual, but as a team, you learn whether you’re hungry or driven, and hunger can indeed be satisfied.
“Driven is like a tapeworm. You want to do business with driven people when you’re in their position. You need to reduce and eliminate the hungry and maximize the driven because it’s a certain drive that takes the answer to the question and it’s different to be hunted as opposed to hunters.”
Throughout the night, Tomlin had a few quality Tomlinisms, including describing Jackson Smith-Njigba as “running water” to refer to the smoothness of his route running.
To get to the next level, Tomlin needs to show hard truths without considering future jobs.
At halftime, the NBC crew showed a flashback to Thursday night’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne. The 49ers arrived a week early, while the Rams flew in just a day earlier, taking the exact opposite approach to the time difference. Tomlin was definitely behind San Francisco’s plan.
That is what we need more from him. Maybe it’s in him to be a star. How driven is it to succeed on TV? Does it have a tapeworm or not?