Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
Mike Tomlin thinks he's on the spectrum
NFL fans are learning more about Mike Tomlin in the roughly 10 months since he left the Steelers than they did during his 19-year career with Pittsburgh. He’s apparently an avid Minecraft player, for example.
Asked about his personality while discussing his long-running Minecraft hobby, Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike Tomlin said he’s “probably” autistic.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin believes he’s on the spectrum and thinks his wife would agree
“I’m probably on the spectrum. My wife would say that,” Tomlin said in a profile interview with GQ, adding that he’s never been officially diagnosed.
According to the Super Bowl winner, his Minecraft project began as a way to connect with his kids, then grew into a passionate hobby of its own, as he has since spent more than a decade building a virtual city with high-rises, hotels, and other structures — including an exorbitant number of aquariums — even after his sons left for college.
Earlier this month, he released a video tour of the city that went massively viral on social media — sparking hundreds of memes and racking up over 3.5 million views on YouTube.
Tomlin stepped down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 13, a day after a 30-6 playoff loss to the Houston Texans.
He finished his Pittsburgh run with a 193-114-2 regular-season record, two Super Bowl appearances, and a championship after the 2008 season. Tomlin also famously had no losing seasons during his 19 years as the Steelers’ head coach.
He has since joined NBC’s Football Night in America as an analyst and will likely be a highly sought-after candidate in the next head coaching cycle.
In their first season without Tomlin since 2007, the Steelers, under head coach Mike McCarthy, largely look like the same team they have for the last few years, which is one that has a ceiling of the Divisional Round of the playoffs and a floor of .500.