I really thought that I would be spending today at someone's Superbowl Party, however I had a fuckery-filled evening!!! So I'm basically watching Superbowl 43 at home alone, its all good, I don't really like the game, but the players are another story altogether!!! That being said, I'm rooting for the Steelers (insert cheering), but not because of a certain player, but because of a certain coach... MIKE TOMLIN!!!
Following a brief stint on the University of Tennessee at Martin's coaching staff, Tomlin was hired by Arkansas State University in 1997 to coach its defensive backs. Tomlin stayed there for two seasons, before being hired as defensive backs coach by the University of Cincinnati.
National Football League
Assistant Coach
Tomlin was hired as the defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001, where he first learned the Tampa 2 defense that he would use in later coaching jobs.
In 2002 and 2005, the Buccaneers led the NFL in total defense (fewest yards allowed per game)—during Tomlin's tenure, the defense never ranked worse than sixth overall. When the Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003, the team recorded five interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns.
Tomlin was selected by Vikings' head coach Brad Childress to be his defensive coordinator in 2006. Two of the players on the Vikings were older than Tomlin, and Tomlin had been a teammate of Vikings' safety Darren Sharper at William and Mary. The 2006 Vikings finished with the NFL's eighth-best overall defense, but had the unusual distinction of finishing as the top-ranked defense against the run, and the worst-ranked defense against the pass.
Head Coach
Tomlin became the Steelers head coach on January 22, 2007, when he was hired to replace Bill Cowher, who resigned after spending 15 years with the team. Tomlin had also interviewed for the head coaching vacancy with the Miami Dolphins, which eventually was given to Cam Cameron.
Tomlin joined Cowher, who was hired at age 34 in 1992, and Chuck Noll, who was hired at age 37 in 1969, as Steelers' head coaches who were hired in their 30s.
Tomlin is the tenth African-American head coach in NFL history and the first in Steelers franchise history. Steelers owner Dan Rooney has served as the head of the NFL's diversity committee and proposed the Rooney Rule, requiring that teams interview minority candidates when selecting a head coach. Tomlin's ascension to an NFL head coaching job has been cited as evidence of the rule working as intended.
Terms of Tomlin's contract have not been released officially. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports a four-year deal ($2.5M each year) with an option for a fifth year. He is the third consecutive Steeler coach to win his first game, and the first head coach in Steeler history to win his first contest against the rival Cleveland Browns.
In a stark contrast to Bill Cowher, who only retained longtime running backs coach Dick Hoak from Chuck Noll's staff (Hoak himself retired just before Cowher's resignation), Tomlin did retain many of Cowher's assistants, most notably defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau despite his contrasting defensive philosophy with Tomlin. This was done in order to keep team chemistry with the players, since the team was only one year removed from a Super Bowl win at the time of Tomlin's hiring. The Steelers finished Tomlin's first season as head coach with the top-ranked defense in the NFL. Tomlin led the Steelers to the 2007 AFC North Division championship and a 10-6 record in his first year as head coach. The Steelers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars 29-31. Tomlin began his career with a 15–7 record in regular season play—as did his predecessor Cowher and all-time win-leader Don Shula. Tomlin set a Steelers record for most wins, after winning 22 games in his first two seasons as head coach; in addition he became the first Steelers coach to win division titles in his first two seasons.
With the victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the 2008 AFC Championship Game, Mike Tomlin is the youngest NFL Head Coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. He is also the third African-American to coach a team into the Super Bowl, joining Chicago's Lovie Smith and Indianapolis' Tony Dungy—the two opposing coaches in Super Bowl XLI. On January 29, 2009, Mike Tomlin was named the 2008 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year.
Personal
Tomlin is the younger of two sons; his brother, Eddie, is three and a half years older. Their father, Ed Tomlin, played football at Hampton Institute in the 1960s and was drafted by theBaltimore Colts. He later played for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League. Tomlin's mother, Julia, married Leslie Copeland, a supervisor for the U.S. Postal Service, in 1980.
Tomlin met his wife, Kiya Winston, while they were students at The College of William & Mary, where Tomlin majored in sociology. He graduated in 1995. They have three children: sons Michael Dean, born in 2001, and Mason, born in 2002; and a daughter, Harlyn Quinn, born in 2006. Tomlin is a Spring 1991 initiate and charter member of the Xi Theta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., The College of William & Mary.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4 comments:
Girl! You are so crazy! I can't believe you wrote a whole blog about this man! Hahahaha! Hmmm, he's a Nupe!
And they won!!!!!
Ok!!! Where yo boss at is perfect! There he is, he just won the superbowl baby.. I tell you this year is the year of black! Finally our time to shine.
@Tamstyles- I know, I was sooo hyped up about it!!!
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