Carson Palmer Hearing NFL Coach For The USC Job

There are going to be a lot of candidates for the USC head coaching job over the next few months. But USC legend Carson Palmer says that an NFL head coach is deserving attention for the vacant job too.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show, Palmer explained that he's being included in conversations around USC's next head coach. He says that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is someone who "could be in the mix" as the search continues.

"I've been as involved as they'll let me be... there's a lot of frontrunners right now," Palmer said. "You've got a wildcard like Mike Tomlin. If Mike Tomlin wants out... at the end of the day there's not a 'that's the guy everybody's pointing their fingers at.'"

When Patrick pushed Palmer to elaborate on Mike Tomlin, Palmer indicated that he may have. He made it clear that "anyone" is a potential candidate for the job right now.

The USC head coaching job was among the first vacancies to open up following Clay Helton's firing in September.

Mike Tomlin is one of the most respected coaches in the sport and is still young at 49 years of age. He's been the head coach of the Steelers since 2007 and hasn't had a losing season since - the longest active streak in the NFL.

But Tomlin also hasn't coached college football in over 20 years. His last college job was as the Cincinnati DBs coach in 2000.

That said, Tomlin is considered one of the best leaders and motivators in football. Dozens of NFL teams and potentially hundreds of colleges would bend over backwards to get someone like him as their head coach.

Is Mike Tomlin a real candidate for the USC head coaching job?