It started locally because of former Buffalo Bills general manager, Doug Whaley, an Upper St. Clair man.
"Six letters for Steelers fans to be very concerned about ... L-S-U. U-S-C," Whaley said last week. "Both institutions can outpay the Rooneys. Their alumni base has enough money to give Mike Tomlin whatever he wants."
It became a national story a day later because of former Steelers safety Ryan Clark, a talking head with ESPN.
"If Mike Tomlin wants this [LSU] job, I would make him an offer that would truly make him disrespectful to Lord Jesus Christ to turn down," Clark told "After Further Review," a Louisiana-based radio show.
"For him to turn it down, it would basically be like spitting in the face of a preacher, priest, rabbi, monk and a nun at the same time. That's how much of a blessing this offer would be to the entire Tomlin family. I would offer him so much money that the kids of his kids' kids' kids' kids' will have their 529 already paid for college."
I'm going to try to end the nonsense here.
Tomlin isn't going anywhere.
That probably disappoints some of you. Not everyone shares my opinion that Tomlin is a top-five coach in the NFL. Many would like to see the Steelers replace him. That's OK. All of us have our critics.
USC and LSU would love to have Tomlin. He would energize either program in a big way because of the credibility he would bring. USC fans would look at him as another Pete Carroll or, going back further, John Robinson or John McKay. LSU fans would dream of soon having another national championship to go with the one departing coach Ed Orgeron won with Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase in 2019.
What I can't believe is that Tomlin would have even the slightest interest in packing up his family and taking a college job, no matter how much a school, say, LSU, would pay him according to the jabbering, hyperbolic Clark, an LSU alum. I have great respect for Whaley as a football man, but I am not buying what he is selling even though he went to great lengths to present it.
"I'm thinking, 'Do they have a definitive plan in Pittsburgh to find a quarterback after Ben?' " Whaley said on the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show. "In the NFL, you get one, maybe two first-rounders every year. As [Alabama coach Nick] Saban said, 'In college, you can recruit maybe 20.'
"In LSU, you have such a fertile recruiting ground. You're going to put a barricade, a fence around it. Saban's not going to be around forever. Now you can talk about dominating the SEC like Saban.
"Now, you go to USC. Another fertile recruiting base. A historically prominent program that's down. Another alumni base that can pay whatever. Then, you start talking about revenue streams off the field. Commercials. Movies. For me, if you're talking about maximizing your ability to generate revenue, as an agent I'm saying, 'We've got to listen to this, Coach.' "
Whaley's primary selling point is that a prime college job would give Tomlin a chance to become just the fourth coach to win a Super Bowl and a national title. Only Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson and Carroll have done it.
"Granted, you can put your name in there as a Hall of Famer like Bill Cowher with the Steelers," Whaley said. "But did Bill Cowher win a Super Bowl and a national championship? That's transcending just Steelers legacy. You're talking football legacy ...
"Money, full control and legacy. That talks. Not many people can say, 'I'm going to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach and the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach.' "
All are good points.
But Tomlin has, arguably, the perfect job in football. He is extremely well-compensated by the Steelers with one of the highest-paying contracts in the NFL. He works for the most stable organization in sports, at least when it comes to its coaches. He is just 49 despite being in his 15th season. It is easy to envision him coaching here for another decade or more before he moves on to the easy life of broadcasting, where, by the way, he would be in great demand and an instant hit.
Beyond that, why would Tomlin what to jump into the unseemly world of recruiting? Sucking up to 18-year-old kids and their parents? Schmoozing with alumni? A major college job involves every bit as much butt-kissing as it does coaching.
That's not Tomlin.
He's a football coach, not a CEO.
There also is one other important factor in play here: Tomlin is signed through the 2024 season. NFL coaching contracts are nearly impossible to break. There are no buyouts.
Accept the reality.
You're going to have Tomlin to kick around here for many years to come.
