'Mike Tomlin calling for Jeff Capel (no, really)'

There are several passions in Jeff Capel's life.

His wife, Kanika, daughters Cameron and Sydney and son, Elijah, top the list.

Basketball, of course.

The Steelers (more on that later).

And cooking.

So it was that Capel, who only hours earlier had accepted the job of Pitt basketball coach, was home alone Tuesday when he decided to make dinner.

"I like to cook," he said.

He was chopping vegetables when his phone rang.

At the time, Capel wasn't taking calls. "There are so many people who want jobs out there," he said, laughing.

But caller ID revealed the call was from a Pittsburgh area code. Thinking it was one of the Pitt players wanting to talk – he had already reached out to most of them by this time – he answered.

"Hi, Jeff. This is Mike Tomlin," said the voice on the phone.

Stunned into disbelief (remember, he's a big Steelers fan), Capel thought, "I was being punked." Capel said his colleague on the Duke coaching staff, Jon Scheyer, is a noted prankster.

But this call was real. Tomlin had heard that Capel had been hired at Pitt, and he wanted to wish him well.

"I was very honored to talk to coach Tomlin," Capel said Wednesday during his introductory news conference at Petersen Events Center. "He talked to me about Pittsburgh and living here and we're going to get together."

If the infamous Jesse James play in the New England Patriots game last season came up in conversation with Tomlin, Capel didn't say. But he was not afraid to offer his opinion of the Steelers tight end's nullified catch to reporters.

"It's the worst call I've ever seen," he said. "It was a really, really bad call. I have not gotten over it."

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.

Worst call I have ever seen in the history of the NFL!!! https://t.co/sVRIwGLEAS

— Jeff Capel (@jeffcapel) December 18, 2017