With this year’s NFL draft in the Steel City, the NFL world missed former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped down after a successful 19-year tenure. However, his wife, Kiya Tomlin, ensured to keep up the family name and continue creating history in the city where her husband coached.

“@kiyatomlin, the first designer to do a fashion show at the NFL Draft (Soulja Boy VOICE),” Mayce Tomlin, the son of Kiya and Mike Tomlin, shared in his Instagram story.

Mrs Tomlin debuted her NFL collection at the fashion show “From our Runway to Yours: A Black and Golden Welcome.” This event was held at the Point State Park and was the first fashion show integrated into an NFL Draft.

The fashion show showcased collections from all 32 NFL teams and was aimed at creating fashionable team gear for women who supported NFL teams, so they did not have to continue wearing boxy gear.

However, this isn’t the first time Mike Tomlin’s wife has collaborated with the league. Tomlin’s official licensed partnership with the NFL began in November 2021 with an initial collection for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The collaboration expanded to 10 teams in 2022 before achieving full 32-team licensing by late 2024.

She started this venture when her first collection debuted under the name Uptown Sweats before rebranding as Kiya Tomlin Fashion in 2014. Then, four years later, she expanded the brand to a Kiya Tomlin Work/Shop in Etna, Pennsylvania. This step allowed her to broaden operations and create a venue where customers can see the entire manufacturing cycle, from raw fabric to finished clothing, all in one place.

Reflecting on how she created the initial design concept, Kiya revealed that Mike Tomlin’s routine was the biggest inspiration for her brand.

“I decided to just make myself a uniform,” Kiya said in an interview with William and Mary Alumni magazine. “Something that I could put on every day that I didn’t have to think about. It needed to be practical … I came up with the Signature Dress.”

For Kiya Tomlin, this business was a logical next step, as her childhood dream of being a surgeon was always accompanied by a strong interest in creativity. She and Mike Tomlin first met at William & Mary University in Virginia, and they married in 1996. The Tomlins relocated to Tennessee following their marriage; Mike then secured a graduate assistant position at the University of Memphis.

Five years after grinding it out in the college circuit, Mike Tomlin began his NFL career as a defensive assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001. He then became the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings before joining Pittsburgh in 2007. With the Steelers, Tomlin established himself as one of the best coaches in NFL history over an illustrious, near-two-decade run, which ended after the 2025 season.

Now four months removed from his Steelers job, Mike Tomlin has reportedly found his next opportunity in football, but his relationship with the franchise remains stronger than ever, according to his wife.

Kiya Tomlin shares how things have been since her husband left the Steelers

Mike Tomlin first went into the Steelers without a lot of experience. He was with the Minnesota Vikings, but the Steelers hired him as their head coach, and it came with a lot of responsibility. The decision turned out well as he helped them win the Super Bowl in his second season as HC, becoming the youngest ever to achieve this feat.

After 19 seasons, he finally decided to vacate the position at the end of the season. His wife, Kiya, shared what the relationship between her husband and the franchise has been like since the exit.

“We’re still very much a part of the organization,” she said in an interview with US Weekly. “I consider us like alumni. Like how they bring the former players back. I think we just fall into that category.”

The Tomlins are still very close to the Rooney family, who own the Steelers, and that was clearly on display during Kiya’s fashion show, which took place during the draft weekend in Pittsburgh.

“The possibility of me continuing to participate in that even though [Mike is] no longer the head coach, we’re still very much a part of the organization,” she said.

Mike Tomlin will always certainly always have the respect of everyone in the franchise for helping them win the Super Bowl. However, after having left on his own terms, the 54-year-old is now venturing into the world of sports media, following the announcement of him joining NBC Sports as a football analyst.