By CLIFTON BROWNWhen Mike Tomlin attended the College of William and Mary, he worked at a place near campus called Paul’s Deli Restaurant. The owner, Peter Tsipas, had no idea that Tomlin would eventually become an N.F.L. head coach, but he recognized early that Tomlin was hungry. Not just hungry to succeed, but hungry — period.
“Mike got free food because he worked here, and he could really eat, I mean two or three sandwiches at a time,” Tsipas recalled during a telephone interview last week from his restaurant in Williamsburg, Va. “I didn’t mind. He played football, and he was a hard worker, a really responsible, really mature college kid. I had him check ID’s when kids came in, because I knew I could trust him. You could already tell that whatever Mike did, he’d be serious about it, and real good at it.”
Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, reached the same conclusion in January when he hired Tomlin to be the team’s first black head coach and only the third head coach for the franchise since 1969. At 35, Tomlin is the second-youngest coach in the league behind the 32-year-old Lane Kiffin of the Oakland Raiders.
Already, Tomlin’s first training camp has been noticeably different from those conducted by his predecessor, Bill Cowher. There have been more two-a-day practices. There has been more hitting. And in Pittsburgh’s 20-7 preseason victory over New Orleans on Sunday in Canton, Ohio, Tomlin showed a willingness to have his offense throw downfield more often than Steelers teams of the past.
“We want to be a big-play offense,” Tomlin said afterward.
It is too early to know if he can lead the Steelers back to the playoffs after an 8-8 finish in 2006. But veterans have learned one thing about their youthful head coach: Tomlin is still hungry.
“He has definitely come in and shown us that he’s going to do things his way,” receiver Hines Ward said Sunday. “A couple of times early, guys have said, ‘Well, that’s not how Coach Cowher did things.’ Well, we’ve learned that doesn’t matter. We’re doing things his way now.”
In athletics and in academics, Tomlin has a history of success. He was an honor student at Denbigh High School in his hometown, Newport News, Va., and a wide receiver. He said he played down his academic achievements back then, because he wanted to fit in socially.
“I just wanted to be one of the guys, hang out with the ballplayers,” Tomlin said in a telephone interview yesterday. “But eventually, the word got out about my academics, because my mother sang about my academic achievements from the rooftops.”
When Tomlin’s college career ended, his mother wanted him to attend law school. But he had other ideas.
“I realized that an N.F.L. playing career wasn’t going to happen, but I still loved football,” Tomlin said. “When I got into coaching, I had a passion for it.”
Jimmye Laycock, the longtime coach at William and Mary, is not surprised Tomlin has made a rapid rise in the profession.
“Mike is confident without being cocky, and that’s a fine line to walk,” said Laycock, now in his 27th season at William and Mary. “He’s got a unique personality — demanding, but always upbeat. I can’t ever remember him being down about anything.”
Tomlin worked as an assistant coach at the Virginia Military Institute, Memphis, Arkansas State and Cincinnati. As a defensive coordinator at Cincinnati, he transformed the Bearcats’ defense into a formidable unit. That led to a break at age 28, when he joined Tony Dungy’s staff with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a defensive backs coach after Herman Edwards left for the Jets.
“I really didn’t expect to get that job,” Tomlin said. “I was young and there were a lot of qualified candidates. That process really changed my attitude about expectations and avoiding setting limits on myself.”
After five years with the Buccaneers, Tomlin was hired last season as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator. The Vikings responded to him, and a defense that was ranked No. 21 in the league in 2005 rose to No. 8 in 2006.
Still, many thought Tomlin had little chance when he interviewed for the Steelers’ job. But the more Rooney saw, the more he liked.
“To be honest with you, when we first had him come in, we said, ‘Here’s a guy we should look at,’ ” Rooney said Sunday in Canton. “He was very good. We said, ‘We’ve got to bring him back.’ We brought him back, and he was great.”
The Steelers wanted a coach who would stick around, Rooney said, “someone who is going to enjoy the city, understand the community.” He added: “He strikes me as being young, but I know he can do the job. Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher were young when we hired them. They’re all different in certain ways, but they’re all very similar in others.”
Pittsburgh fans and the news media watched Tomlin closely Sunday, even though it was the preseason opener. Tomlin was less animated than Cowher was, although he argued with officials on several calls.
“Believe me, that’s nothing new,” Tomlin said afterward. “I’ve been doing that as an assistant. The only difference is, the boss used to tell me to shut up.”
Now, Tomlin is the boss, and he is following some impressive footsteps. Cowher spent 15 seasons with the Steelers and won a Super Bowl. Noll spent 23 seasons with the Steelers and won four Super Bowls. Steelers coaches are expected to last and to win, and Tomlin is confident he can continue that legacy.
“I’m here to coach football and to coach it the best way that I know how,” he said. “I’d rather be in a place like this with high expectations, rather than to be in a situation where winning isn’t expected. I’m excited about the job and excited about what we can do. This is a tremendous opportunity. I’m going to attack it with passion.”
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