View source for Mike Tomlin | American Football Database

===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.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Smith |authorlink= |coauthors= |title='Simple' scheme nets big gains for trio of defenses |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2271514 |work=[[ESPN.com]] |publisher= |date=2005-12-28 |accessdate= }}</ref>

In [[2002 NFL season|2002]] and [[2005 NFL season|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.<ref>{{cite news |first= Jon|last= Krawczynski|authorlink= Associated Press|title= Steelers coach Tomlin made strong impression in MN|url= http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-tomlinsreturn&prov=ap&type=lgns|publisher= [[Yahoo! Sports]]|date= 2008-08-22|accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first= John|last= Harris|title= Steelers coach, Vikings safety share history|url= http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_584500.html?source=rss&feed=3|publisher= [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date= 2008-08-23|accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/DEF-RUSHING/2006/regular | title=2006 regular season defensive rushing stats | work=NFL.com | accessdate=2007-01-22 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070119124756/http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/DEF-RUSHING/2006/regular <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-01-19}}</ref> and the worst-ranked defense against the pass.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/DEF-PASSING/2006/regular | title=2006 regular season defensive passing stats | work=NFL.com | accessdate=2007-01-22 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070119124732/http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/DEF-PASSING/2006/regular <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-01-19}}</ref>

====Head coach====

[[File:First Tomlin in Victory Parade.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Tomlin in the victory parade after winning [[Super Bowl XLIII]].]]
Tomlin became the [[List of Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches|sixteenth 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]].

With Tomlin, the Steelers continued a trend of hiring head coaches in their 30s. The others were Cowher (age 34 in 1992), [[Chuck Noll]] (38 in 1969), [[Bill Austin]] (38 in 1966), [[John Michelosen]] (32 in 1948), [[Jim Leonard]] (35 in 1945), [[Aldo Donelli]] (33 in 1941) [[Walt Kiesling]] (35 in 1939), [[John McNally|Johnny "Blood" McNally]] (33 in 1937) and [[Joe Bach]] (36 in 1935).

Tomlin is the 10th [[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. Although Tomlin's ascension to an NFL head coaching job has been cited as evidence of the rule working as intended,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_489701.html | title=Tomlin proof NFL's Rooney Rule is working as intended | publisher=''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'' | accessdate=2007-09-15}}</ref> Rooney himself disputes this, as he had already interviewed a minority candidate prior to interviewing Tomlin.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://obama.wsj.com/quote/00C19ougZs3uV?q=Mike+Tomlin# | work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref>Newsday, February 1, 2009
[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/1636333731.html?dids=1636333731:1636333731&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+1%2C+2009&author=ERIK+BOLAND&pub=Newsday&edition=&startpage=A.84&desc=He%27s+earned+respect+Tomlin+adapts+well+to+players+but+leaves+no+doubt+who%27s+in+charge Tomlin adapts well to players but leaves no doubt who's in charge]
 <blockquote>
The Rooney Rule dictates that for all head-coaching openings, each team must interview at least one minority candidate. But here's what's interesting: The coach who might be the Rooney Rule's greatest advertisement didn't benefit from it.

"Let me say this: Mike Tomlin was not part of the Rooney Rule," Rooney said. "We had already interviewed Ron Rivera [then the Bears' defensive coordinator], and so that fulfilled the obligation," Rooney said. "We went on, had heard about Mike, called him in and talked to him. He was very impressive."
</blockquote></ref>

Terms of Tomlin's contract were not officially released. The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' reported a four-year deal paying $2.5 million per year, with an option for a fifth year. He is the teams's third consecutive head coach to win his first game, and the first in team history to win his first game against the rival [[Cleveland Browns]].

In 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 XL|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.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/08001/845806-66.stm | title=Steelers finish with top defense | publisher= ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'' | accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref>
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, 31–29. 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]].<ref>{{cite news |first= Gene|last= Collier|title= Tomlin's early career looking an awful lot like Cowher's|url= http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08293/921086-66.stm|publisher= ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'' |date= 2008-10-19|accessdate=2008-10-20}}</ref> Tomlin set a Steelers record for most wins, after winning 22&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite news |first= Ed|last= Bouchette|title=Steelers Notebook: Game ends with some spit and a shove|work= Quick hits| url= http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08350/935281-66.stm?cmpid=steelers.xml|publisher= ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''|date= 15 December 2008|accessdate=15 December 2008}}</ref>

When the Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the 2008 AFC Championship Game, Mike Tomlin became the youngest NFL head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. He also became the third African-American to coach a team to the Super Bowl, following [[Chicago Bears|Chicago]]'s [[Lovie Smith]] and [[Indianapolis Colts|Indianapolis]]' [[Tony Dungy]], the two opposing coaches in [[Super Bowl XLI]]. After two seasons, with a record of 22-10, he was the winningest head coach in Steelers history based on a win percentage (68.8%).

On January 29, 2009, Mike Tomlin was named the 2008 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year.<ref>[http://tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=265041&lid=sublink011&lpos=headlines_main Steelers' Tomlin named NFL Coach of the Year]</ref>

On February 1, 2009, at age 36, Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Steelers defeated the [[Arizona Cardinals]] in [[Super Bowl XLIII]], beating the previous record held by [[Jon Gruden]], who was 39 when he won [[Super Bowl XXXVII]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Steelers win 6th Super Bowl in thrilling fashion|url=http://www.wndu.com/sports/headlines/38791037.html|newspaper=WNDU.com|date=February 2, 2009}}</ref>
 
On July 13, 2010, Tomlin signed a three-year contract extension with the Steelers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bouchette|first=Ed|title=Steelers' Tomlin receives contract extension|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/steelers-tomlin-receives-contract-extension-255075/|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=July 13, 2012}}</ref>

On November 13, 2011, Tomlin won his 50th game as the Steelers head coach with a 24-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Of the team's 16 head coaches, Tomlin was the fourth to reach this milestone.

On July 24, 2012, Tomlin received a three-year contract extension through the 2016 season.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bouchette|first=Ed|title=Steelers sign Tomlin to three-year extension|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/steelers-sign-wallace-to-three-year-extension-646013/|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=July 24, 2012}}</ref> The financial terms were not disclosed.

On February 7, 2012, the Steelers hired Todd Haley as their offensive coordinator, causing some controversy between him an QB Ben Roethlisberger; this proved to be a problem all of the 2012 season. They began this season with a loss coming from Peyton Manning and the Broncos. They later bounced back and where sitting with a 6-3 record. However they lost Roethlisberger to a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers lost two of their three games without Roethlisberger. When he returned the Steelers lost three games in a row to the Chargers, Cowboys and Bengals finishing the year 8-8. It is the second time that the Steelers have failed to make the playoffs under Mike Tomlin's tenure as head coach.