Mike Tomlin spent 19 years as the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ head coach. For 12 of those 19 years, however, he also committed himself to playing video games, particularly Minecraft, as a way to spend time with his children. Ever since Tomlin shared his Minecraft city, though, the former head coach has faced several different narratives surrounding his interest in gaming.

Recently, Tomlin sat down with Cam Heyward and Hayden Walsh on Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, where he addressed those narratives. During the conversation, Tomlin explained that his interest in video games, including Minecraft, was largely about spending time with his children and finding a way to connect with them. As he explained:

“The narrative has been shaped up to be a big deal. Like, man, like I was running home to Minecraft. It was more about Daddin’ for me. You know, the season comes to an end. I got weekends, and I’m trying to engage with my kids, but they’re locked in their room playing video games all weekend, and it’s like I’m disturbing them. We would spend hours playing, but that was just hours where I had an opportunity to hear about things going on in their life. Listen to them interact and kind of infuse a little knowledge.”

However, Cam later asked Hayden about the reason behind Tomlin’s decision to retire. Hayden, meanwhile, jokingly replied, “Oh, because GTA VI comes out November 19th.” Tomlin then played along with the joke, responding, “I’m foaming at the mouth,” highlighting just how excited he is for the highly anticipated game.

Mike Tomlin stepped down as the Steelers head coach following the team’s wild-card round loss to the Houston Texans earlier this year. Certainly, leaving head coaching was a difficult decision for the coach, and that’s why it’s safe to say that Tomlin’s comment about retiring because of GTA VI came as a joke.

After all, he has previously addressed the reasons behind his decision to step down. In April, when he first discussed the decision publicly, he said it was not an “overnight decision,” and that he felt it was a good time for him personally and for the organization.

“There’s just some veteran players there, man, guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and Boswell, that I thought just were worthy of the excitement and the optimism associated with new leadership,” he said at that time.

The decision came amid the Steelers’ playoff drought. With Tomlin as the head coach, the Steelers hadn’t won a playoff game since 2017 and lost seven straight postseason games. The Wild-Card round against the Texans happened to be Tomlin’s last as the Steelers’ head coach.

And during his appearance on Heyward’s podcast, Tomlin gave an even more detailed explanation. He said he knew he was leaving by the time he pulled into his driveway after Pittsburgh’s playoff loss to Houston. But at the same time, he also added:

“I never wanted to stay too long. Also, there’s a cumulative component to coaching. I had 19 years of baggage. And sometimes your teams have to carry your bags. And I just thought we had the making of a really good team. A team that is capable of competing for and winning a championship. But when I really started thinking about it, man, my bags might have slowed it down.”

But since his unofficial retirement, Mike Tomlin has spoken publicly about gaming throughout this year. In September, Tomlin announced a YouTube series showcasing the Minecraft city he had been building for 12 years.

He subsequently explained that his sons were in middle school when he got into Minecraft. As a parent, he wanted to stay close to them as they became more independent, and playing Minecraft became something they could share.

So when Hayden brings up GTA 6, it isn’t completely out of nowhere. Tomlin has established himself as a surprisingly serious gamer. It just remains to be seen how the former Steelers head coach will spend time with his children once GTA VI comes out on November 19th.