Nine Years!

While reading an article about the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers opening training camp on July 25 it was startling to read "ninth-year head coach Mike Tomlin." Nine years! It really is hard to believe that Tomlin is entering his ninth year as the head coach of the Steelers. It feels like only yesterday that he was the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. Where did that time go?

It can be said that Mike Tomlin had a rapid rise through the NFL coaching ranks. After playing at William & Mary in the early 1990s he coached at the college level from 1995-2000. Tony Dungy brought him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to coach defensive backs. Tomlin kept the job when Dungy was replaced by Jon Gruden a year later. Tomlin's reputation as a promising young coach was growing in league circles but he was still an unknown to most outside those circles when new Vikings head coach Brad Childress hired him as defensive coordinator in 2006. His charisma and energy were evident immediately. The Vikings players loved playing for him and the defense improved. At least, the run defense improved. The pass defense was a work in progress. That progress wouldn't continue under Tomlin. The Steelers had other plans. They finally had to replace long-time head coach Bill Cowher and they hired Tomlin on January 22, 2007. He was only 34. It felt a bit early for the youngster. He'd only been an NFL coach for six years. He'd only been a defensive coordinator for one. In contrast, Vikings current head coach Mike Zimmer had been an NFL assistant coach for 20 years before he finally got his first head coaching shot in 2014. At the time of Tomlin's move to a head coaching gig, I would have been all in on the Steelers taking Childress instead. As a Vikings fan, I hated to see Tomlin go. It felt a lot like 1996 when Tony Dungy left the his defensive coordinator job with the Vikings for a head coaching job with the Buccaneers. Both were sad days for this Vikings fan. I also knew that it was a only matter of time before both coaches were going to be head coaches. It was still going to be too soon no matter when it happened. In Tomlin's case it felt way too soon. Only a single season as defensive coordinator? Tomlin rewarded the Steelers faith and trust by winning a Super Bowl in his second season. Even if it was mostly the same team that had won it all under Cowher it was a tremendous accomplishment. Fast forward nearly a decade and Tomlin is one of the more experienced head coaches in the league. At 43. In contrast, Zimmer is entering his second season at 59. Each leads his team against the other in the Hall of Fame game on August 9. The first game of the new football year. It's still hard to believe that this new football year will be Mike Tomlin's ninth year as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Nine years! It's inconceivable!