Is Mike Tomlin moving from the NFL to college football? Former quarterback Carson Palmer is linking the current Pittsburgh Steelers head coach to the USC Trojans’ coaching chair.

Pittsburgh/Munich – Things are not going well for the Pittsburgh Steelers this NFL season, missing the playoffs is looming.

And now there are rumours about the departure of head coach Mike Tomlin.

The 49-year-old is being linked to the coaching chair at the USC Trojans – one of the most prestigious college teams in the US.

Longtime NFL and USC quarterback Carson Palmer is involved in the Trojans head coaching search and is now spreading the rumours himself.

Palmer: “Can attract an NFL guy who is unhappy “

Palmer even got pretty specific during his appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show. “I think everybody is a potential candidate right now. And that’s what’s great about the job. You can attract an NFL guy who’s unhappy with his current situation and is concerned. “

The 42-year-old, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals in his NFL days, can imagine Tomlin considering a move. “Is Ben Roethlisberger gone? Is he done? Who are we going to drop? Does Mike Tomlin have to start over with a young rookie quarterback from the first round?” asked Palmer, highlighting the value of the coaching job at USC: “It’s all on the line because this job is so big and so coveted.”

Also interesting was Palmer’s following question to the moderator: “Is this the first time you’ve heard of the USC-Tomlin pairing?” he asked Dan Patrick. When the latter replied “Yes,” Palmer retorted, “Uh-oh. Oops.”

Did he give a little too much away there?

Steelers continue to face creative crisis

The Pittsburgh Steelers have their bye week behind them. After six games (three wins, three losses), the Steelers rank last in the AFC North.

The squad structure in particular raises some questions about the future. Quarterback Roethlisberger has been in a serious slump in his 18th NFL season. The 39-year-old has been the subject of speculation about a career end for some time. In addition, there is a lack of difference-makers, especially on offence.

So the situation can’t be really satisfying for Tomlin.

USC looking for successor for Helton

After only two games of the season, USC had fired its longtime head coach Clay Helton a few weeks ago. The latter had been coaching the Los Angeles college team since 2015 in the front line.

Since then, former cornerbacks coach Donte Williams has been in charge of the team on an interim basis. Currently, the Trojans sit in a rather disappointing fourth place in the Pac-12 Conference’s South Division.

After Helton’s dismissal, USC said it would take its time in finding a new coach. Besides Tomlin, there are many other serious candidates to succeed Helton. Among the hottest candidates are James Franklin (currently Penn State), Matt Campbell (currently Iowa State) and Luke Fickell (currently University of Cincinnati).