In the aftermath of Tuesday’s news, it’s probably safe to rule out Mike Tomlin as a candidate for the Baltimore Ravens’ head coaching job. … Right?
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti was speaking to reporters when news broke that Tomlin had decided to step down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The news caught Bisciotti by surprise, but allowed for some fun speculation for a moment as he was asked if Tomlin would be a candidate to replace John Harbaugh.
“Holy s—, wouldn’t that be awesome?” Bisciotti replied.
Bisciotti proceeded to pour some cold water on the idea of hiring the division rival’s ex-coach, though.
“Only if John took the Pittsburgh job,” he said while laughing. “Wow, wouldn’t that be interesting? I don’t know, that thing last week, maybe disqualified him from my opening after our kicker missed a kick to let them advance.
“Good for Mike. Yeah, I dunno. Talk to him. I love Mike. I’ve admired Mike for 18 years. That’s really shocking that he did it that way. But, yeah, that’s kind of crazy.”
Tomlin, 53, helped the Steelers beat the Ravens to win the AFC North in the regular-season finale, which ended with Baltimore kicker Tyler Loop’s game-winning field goal sailing wide right at the buzzer. The Steelers went on to lose to the Houston Texans, 30-6, in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs on Monday.
A day later, Tomlin decided to end his tenure as the Steelers’ head coach after 19 seasons. He went 194-114-2 over his 19 years with the organization, helping Pittsburgh win a Super Bowl and make it to another. He also never had a losing record in any of his seasons at the helm, and went 24-18 against the Ravens.
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If Bisciotti and the Ravens wanted to hire Tomlin, they would have to go through some contractual hoops in order to get him. Tomlin was under contract with the Steelers through the end of the 2026 season and had a team option for the 2027 season. So, any team looking to hire Tomlin in the future might have to trade for him, similar to how the Denver Broncos traded for Sean Payton’s rights from the New Orleans Saints prior to hiring him in 2023.
As for the man the Ravens fired, Harbaugh has reportedly been in the mix for the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans’ head coach vacancies. But a source with a team looking to hire a new head coach told FOX Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano that the Steelers were an “interesting darkhorse” in the Harbaugh sweepstakes last week.
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