Mike Tomlin's Minecraft city is real, and it is spectacular

NBC broadcast analyst Mike Tomlin. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mike Tomlin's Minecraft city is real, and it is spectacular

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Sep 30, 2026 9:04 PM ET

Mike Tomlin's journey into a post-coaching career has taken a wildly unexpected turn.

It was pretty much universally accepted that when he stepped aside as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers that a future in TV was in the cards for him. It was, and he has been an outstanding addition to the NBC broadcasts.

What you probably did not expect was that Tomlin would randomly become a YouTube Minecraft streamer.

He took his first step toward that on Wednesday night when he finally started to reveal the Minecraft city that his son, Dino Tomlin, alerted the world to earlier this summer.

Mike Tomlin's Minecraft city is real, and the detail is off the charts

After weeks of prodding and calls for him to reveal the city, Tomlin finally did so on Wednesday night with the first of what will presumably be several episodes detailing the city that he has been working on for 12 years.

In the debut episode, Tomlin got into the backstory of how he started on Minecraft (as a chance to spend time with his kids, who were extremely into it at the time) and how he got into the details of building a city.

At one point there were more than 25,000 people watching the episode on YouTube.

The 20-minute video focused on urban living and the first building that Tomlin's city constructed, which was a boutique hotel.

The two things that stand out the most about all of this are: 1) the fact that it even exists and 2) the staggering amount of detail that he put into it.

This clearly evolved from a fun activity with his kids, to a passion that allowed him to blow off steam from the stresses of being an NHL head coach in one of the most football-crazed cities in the country.

Everybody needs an escape. Everybody needs a hobby. Even NFL head coaches.

Tomlin detailed the multipurpose conference room in his boutique hotel, as well as the indoor/outdoor restaurant.

Perhaps the funniest thing throughout the video, however, was how Tomlin consistently pointed out how every building and living space would have an appropriate number of bathrooms. The Steelers received terrible grades in previous NFLPA surveys, and one of the most common complaints from players was the lack of bathrooms in the locker rooms and facilities.

Tomlin may not have had the number of bathrooms he wanted in the practice facilities and stadium, but he certainly made sure to put them into his Minecraft city.

He didn't leave out any details, including a CVS pharmacy, restaurants, multiple stadiums and everything else a functioning city needs. He will explore and show off more in future episodes.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

More must-reads: