Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and current NBC Sunday Night Football analyst Mike Tomlin spoke with Jason and Travis Kelce on Episode 206 of their New Heights podcast on October 14, 2026. In the conversation, Tomlin reacted to head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s Dallas Cowboys calling a players-only defensive meeting after dropping to 2-3 in Week 5.

When asked by Jason Kelce what a players-only meeting means to a coach, Tomlin responded bluntly on the podcast,

“I think you are dead…Hey, if it did occur, I’d like not to hear about it. The fact that you hear about it is what makes it BS, you know what I mean? Like, ‘We had a players-only meeting.'”

Jason Kelce happened to agree with Tomlin on the podcast. “I just always feel like it always is just a formality that is like, ‘We’re gonna do the players-only meeting cause nothing else is f——g working, so let’s try the players-only meeting, and that’s gonna be the thing that turns it all around!'” Kelce said on the podcast.

This marks the second time in three weeks in which Tomlin has criticized the Cowboys’ defense. Following the September 27, Week 3 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, Tomlin said on Sunday Night Football that the Cowboys’ defense had been “somewhat negligent,” and he was really surprised they played man coverage on receiver Zay Flowers as opposed to umbrella coverage.

Dallas held a players-only defensive meeting on the morning of October 12 in Frisco at The Star, where linebacker DeMarvion Overshown spoke to reporters.

“Look at ourselves in a mirror. We put what we wanted our standard to be…on the board,” Overshown said, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “We went bullet point by bullet point: Are we holding up to this? Are we being this? As a unit, how can we get closer? What is it?”

The meeting came after Dallas’ 24-16 Week 5 home loss on October 8 to the previously 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which Schottenheimer said was the result of “growing pains.” As of now, Dallas ranks 31st in total defense (395.4 yards allowed per game) and last in rushing defense (168.4 yards per game).

On October 12, Schottenheimer informed the media that Dallas hired 60-year-old former Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine out of retirement as a senior defensive assistant to aid 34-year-old first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker. In 2019, Pettine served as the defensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers, where he gave Parker his first NFL job as a defensive quality control coach.

Schottenheimer and Pettine were together on the New York Jets’ coaching staff from 2009 to 2011.

“We’re going to coach the defense from not on the field, but up above. Parker’s going up above,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Texas, on October 13, confirming that Parker will transition from the sideline to the coaching booth.

Schottenheimer also told reporters that Dallas will make roster adjustments after looking at everything from all three units. The 2-3 Cowboys will look to get back on track when they visit Lambeau Field on Sunday Night Football on October 18 to take on the 3-2 Green Bay Packers.