Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has repeatedly indicated that he is content with his current role as an analyst on NBC’s *Football Night in America*. Although he has not formally announced his retirement from coaching, Tomlin has said he would address that possibility if and when the time came.
That outlook was central to FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer’s response when radio hosts Mike Harmon and Jason Smith asked whether a huge contract could persuade Tomlin to return to the sideline. Their hypothetical offer was for Tomlin to coach the New York Jets, the Steelers’ AFC rivals.
Glazer, a longtime friend and confidant of Tomlin, dismissed the idea immediately. He said that even an extraordinary amount of money would not make Tomlin take the Jets job. As the conversation continued, the figure rose to $83 billion—and Glazer maintained that the answer would still be no.
The exchange took place during a Fox Sports Radio broadcast on November 14. Harmon and Smith raised the possibility of a $30 million offer, but Glazer said he had already discouraged other teams from pursuing Tomlin. In his view, the Jets were a particularly unlikely destination.
Glazer has often described the organization as a difficult place for coaches to succeed, pointing to what he sees as instability and interference from ownership. He also said that tensions between players and team chairman Woody Johnson had contributed to concerns about the franchise’s culture. Those conditions, he suggested, could make established coaches reluctant to join the organization.
The insider has also criticized the way the Jets have handled people within the team. He cited the abrupt firing of former general manager Joe Douglas, who had joked about being dismissed, and the team’s decision to move on from quarterback Aaron Rodgers after Rodgers traveled to New York to discuss his future. Glazer has presented those incidents as examples of a broader pattern that, in his view, makes the coaching position unattractive.
When Harmon pushed the hypothetical amount higher, Glazer stressed that Tomlin was not simply avoiding a return to coaching because he had not received the right offer. Glazer said Tomlin had told people more than once that he was enjoying his life outside the head-coaching role and was not considering a comeback.
Glazer acknowledged that plenty of teams might be interested in pursuing Tomlin. However, he said he did not believe that interest would change Tomlin’s current position. He also rejected the idea that Tomlin’s public comments were merely “coach speak,” insisting that Tomlin genuinely meant it when he said he was happy with his life and was not thinking about returning.
The hosts broadened the conversation by mentioning Bruce Arians, who had undergone open-heart surgery earlier in the year and had recently spoken about feeling the urge to coach again. They joked about offering Arians $35 million to lead the Jets. Glazer said he would like to see Arians receive such an opportunity, but distinguished between a coach expressing interest in working and a team actually making an offer.
He then returned to Tomlin and the escalating $83 billion scenario. Glazer said that no amount would change his view: Tomlin would not coach the Jets. He described the team’s culture as a decisive obstacle, particularly what he sees as problems originating at the top of the organization.
Tomlin stepped down as Steelers head coach in January but did not officially retire from coaching. For now, Glazer’s account suggests that Tomlin is satisfied with his broadcasting role and is not actively seeking another coaching job. In particular, Glazer ruled out the possibility of Tomlin taking over in New York, arguing that neither a lucrative contract nor an unimaginable one could overcome his concerns about the Jets’ organizational culture.
