Welcome back to “On the Air,” in which Sports Media Watch Podcast co-host Armand Broady will offer in-depth breakdowns of broadcasters, on-air performance and career journeys, plus chronicle broader trends in the industry.
One of sports television’s top targets has finally made his choice. As first reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Mike Tomlin will serve as a studio analyst for NBC’s “Football Night in America” starting this season. Tomlin made his on-air debut on Sunday during the network’s NBA playoff coverage.
For years, NFL broadcasting luminaries have described Tomlin as a can’t-miss TV prospect. In a 2021 interview with The Athletic, longtime “Sunday Night Football” producer Fred Gaudelli said Tomlin “would be transformational.”
“I mean, he’s got a language all of his own that everybody can understand,” Gaudelli said. “He’s got a really expressive personality. You’d want him in the studio so you could see him more, but I think he’d be equally good on a game. If you said to me you can take one guy out of the league right now, it’s not even a hard call. It’s Mike Tomlin.”
During his 19-year tenure as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tomlin became a media darling due to his candid responses in press conferences as well as his colorful idioms and phrases, which came to be known as “Tomlinisms.”
Here are some examples:
“I can’t give you all the ingredients to the hot dog; you might not like it.”
“We need volunteers, not hostages.”
“The standard is the standard.”
“It’s a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes.”
Tomlin, 54, now joins a network undergoing major changes to its pregame show. Last month, Tony Dungy confirmed reports he would be departing NBC, ending a 17-year run as studio analyst. Chris Simms confirmed his departure from “FNIA” on Monday. The roles of Rodney Harrison and Jac Collinsworth are uncertain, and Awful Announcing reported that fantasy football analyst Matthew Berry is unlikely to return.
While its game coverage has sparkled over the last 20 years, NBC’s Sunday night pregame show has floundered, lacking the kind of flow and continuity networks desire out of such a treasured property.
Tomlin will be called upon to breathe new life into what has long been a stale and sterile television product. To ensure he and the show succeed, NBC should borrow from what has made other studio shows impactful.
If the former Steelers head coach is expected to be a magnetic commentator who can attract attention through comedy, force of personality or charisma, he’ll need the right sidekicks.
Charles Barkley received acclaim for his revolutionary broadcasting during the early days of Inside the NBA, but he had help. Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith were TV veterans by the time Barkley arrived and, although Barkley made it clear he wanted to do television differently, without the steady professionalism of Johnson or the pass-first approach of Smith, the show wouldn’t have worked as well as it did. Both men — along with legendary TNT Sports producer Tim Kiely — knew how to provoke Barkley, who self-deprecatingly played along. Though there remains no one in sports television quite like Barkley, NBC would benefit from incorporating some of the elements from Inside the NBA’s glory days.
It is worth questioning if Tomlin will fully embrace life as an analyst. Given the lavish praise he has received in the past from television professionals, as well as the lofty expectations sports media observers will have for him, Tomlin must commit to the small screen. When an official or a player makes a critical mistake, call it out. When a coach makes a bad call late in a game, give an honest opinion. Fans know when a coach is diluting his commentary to protect his relationships or his chances of returning to the sidelines.
NBC needs to produce the kind of show that allows Tomlin to have an edge, to keep the kind of sizzle that made him so compelling for so many years.
Plus: Kenny Albert breaks the record
Over the weekend, Kenny Albert set the record for most national broadcasts (1,545) across the four major sports.
According to Tony Miller of Unnecessary Sports Research, Albert has called 569 national NHL broadcasts, 530 NFL broadcasts, and 446 national MLB broadcasts. Though he has not done any national NBA work, Albert has filled in occasionally on MSG Network’s Knicks broadcasts.
At just 58 years old, Albert figures to be a leading national play-by-play voice for many years to come, and for good reason: he is one of the versatile broadcasters in the business.
Although his broadcasts don’t overflow with the kind of playful banter that characterized his dad Marv’s career, Albert’s appeal is his exactness and his passion.
Whether it’s his call of the Vernon Davis TD in 2012, the Jose Bautista bat flip home run in 2015, or Jack Hughes’ gold medal-winning goal in 2026, Albert’s calls have just the right amount of energy, and rarely does he overspeak.
Musicians call it being in the pocket. It’s that almost indescribable vibe that’s produced when a drummer finds the sweet spot — that repetitive groove that compliments the band but doesn’t overshadow it. It’s that groove that makes the listeners nod their heads and snap their fingers.
Over the course of more than 30 years on national television, Kenny Albert has found the groove — always accenting a broadcast, never outshining it.
