UNEXPECTEDLY: Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announce departure after winning Super Bowl-winning head coach from Hampton Roads due to many…
Mike Tomlin: Super Bowl-winning head coach from Hampton Roads
10 News is celebrating Black History Month by featuring daily articles on monumental Black figures in our state’s history
Duncan Weigand, Digital Content Producer
Published: February 13, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin watches during the first half of the team’s Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Canton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane) (Ron Schwane, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
HAMPTON, Va. – After a two-and-a-half-week process, Mike Tomlin was named head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007, becoming the first Black head coach in the franchise’s storied history. Many analysts and outlets were shocked by the hire, calling it “unconventional,” but 18 years later, the Steelers head coach has thrived on being unconventional.
Tomlin was born in Hampton on March 15, 1972, and his parents broke up when he was just 10 months old. Tomlin graduated from Denbigh High School in Newport News in 1990 before attending college at William
While at William & Mary, Tomlin was a three-year starter between 1990-1994, where he racked up 2,046 yards on 101 receptions over his career. Tomlin also secured 20 touchdown catches, the fourth most in school history, and established a school record by averaging 20.2 yards per catch.
The next step for Tomlin, however, would not be a career as a Wide Receiver in the NFL. Instead, Tomlin went the coaching route, becoming a wide receivers coach at the Virginia Military Institute in 1995.
Tomlin continued to bounce around from coaching job to coaching job at the college level before landing his first job in the NFL as a defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001. Two seasons later in 2003, the Buccaneers would defeat the Philadelphia Eagles to win the organization’s first Super Bowl trophy.
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Tomlin stayed with Tampa Bay for two more seasons before taking a job as defensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings in 2006. In Tomlin’s first and only season as defensive coordinator, the Vikings finished with a less-than-stellar 6-10 record, but the Vikings’ defense improved dramatically.
The Vikings’ defense led the league in rushing defense, allowing only 985 rushing yards despite facing some of the league’s top running backs like Shaun Alexander and Frank Gore. That 2006 defense is one of only two defenses to give up less than 1,000 yards in a season.
After an impressive first season as defensive coordinator, Mike Tomlin was hired as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, beating out perceived front-runners like Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm.
In Tomlin’s first season at the helm, the Steelers went 10-6, following that up with a 12-4 campaign the next season.
It only took Tomlin two seasons, but he had led his team to the precipice of football glory — a chance for a Lombardi Trophy and what would be the Steelers’ sixth Super Bowl. The Steelers ended up winning Super Bowl XLIII in dramatic fashion, when a perfect pass from Ben Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes in the back corner of the end zone in the waning minutes, securing a 27-23 victory for Pittsburgh over the Arizona Cardinals who, oddly enough, were coached by Ken Whisenhunt.
The 34-year-old Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl at the time, a record that is now held by Rams head coach Sean McVay. Tomlin also became one of only two Black head coaches to win a Super Bowl.
In 18 seasons as head coach with the Steelers, Tomlin has never posted a losing season with the team and has a career record of 292-183-107. He has led the Steelers to two Super Bowl appearances and, throughout his tenure as coach, has been known for his signature “Tomlinisms.”
Even with his overwhelming success, Tomlin has not forgotten his hometown roots. Every July, the coach returns to Hampton to help out the Hampton Roads Youth Foundation with fundraising and even putting on a football camp.
Recent playoff struggles and a failure to find a successor to Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who retired in 2022, have put the Steelers and Tomlin at a crossroads.
There is a lot of uncertainty heading into this offseason, some could call it “unconventional.” But, to use a Tomlinism, the now 52-year-old head coach does not “live in his fears.” It’s one of the main reasons why the 757 native has managed to have such longevity in a role and in a league that seems to have constant turnover.
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