Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has publicly revealed a Minecraft city he has been building for approximately 12 years. Tomlin posted a YouTube video titled ‘Rooftops, Penthouses, and Urban Living’ on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, showing off the virtual project for the first time .
The video premiered at 8 p.m. ET and peaked at 20,000 simultaneous viewers, according to theScore . Tomlin first mentioned the project during a September interview with NBC’s ‘Today’ show, describing it as a ‘secret obsession’ .
Tomlin, 54, began playing Minecraft when his three children were young. He said the game served as a way to connect with them during his coaching career .
‘I started playing Minecraft, man, when my kids were young,’ Tomlin said during the interview. ‘I have a Minecraft city on creative, man, that I’ve been working on for like 12 years’ .
Even after his children stopped playing regularly, Tomlin continued building. He said his kids later helped transfer the save file across multiple PlayStation consoles, from PS3 to PS4 to PS5 .
Tomlin described the project as therapeutic. ‘It allowed me to detach from the realities and the pressure of life,’ he said .
His oldest son encouraged him to share the city publicly. Tomlin said his son told him, ‘Dad, you got to share this with the world, man. People need to see this city that you’ve been working on for 12 years’ .
What the City Contains
In the first episode, Tomlin toured several areas of his city. He began with a boutique hotel that features an executive spa, bathrooms, a lobby, balconies, and an underground speakeasy .
Tomlin then showed a high-end residential area with a high-rise apartment building. Each apartment unit contains a multi-level fish tank that takes up one wall .
Rooftop design was a particular focus. Tomlin described it as a self-described ‘obsession.’ He showed off features such as a movie theater area connected to an outdoor patio .
The video also included a building labeled ‘Trump Tower.’ An annotation added during editing stated, ‘Not an endorsement. This build is c. 2015… We didn’t think he would win. Twice’ .
Tomlin said some structures were inspired by real-life buildings, including an apartment complex where his son lived during college .
He explained his approach to building the city. ‘When I first started the city, I wanted population density. I wanted an urban landscape, so I would always do multi-family residences, high-end apartment buildings, high-rise apartment buildings along bodies of water,’ Tomlin said .
Tomlin also noted that the spawn topography presented challenges. He said he had to blow up mountains and hills to redevelop land around the starting area, calling it ‘tedious work and not fun’ .
Reaction and Future Plans
Tomlin’s announcement drew reactions across social media. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma replied to Tomlin’s post with ‘Well done Coach’ .
Some NFL fans used the reveal to make jokes about Tomlin’s coaching tenure. One comment said, ‘No wonder why he was a terrible football coach.’ Another wrote, ‘So this is what he was doing all those years instead of thinking about how to make in-game adjustments’ .
Tomlin spent 19 seasons with the Steelers from 2007 through 2025. He compiled a 193-114-2 record and won Super Bowl XLIII during the 2008 season .
Tomlin now works as an analyst for NBC’s ‘Football Night in America.’ He joined the network after stepping down from the Steelers following the 2025 season .
At the end of the video, Tomlin promised more episodes. He said the next installment will feature ‘the bay area,’ which he described as the central part of his virtual city .
‘In the next episode, we’ll take a look at something that I think you’re gonna find interesting – something that’s really cool – so stay with us,’ Tomlin said .
