Pittsburgh, Penn. - The Pittsburgh Steelers announced the hiring of former William and Mary standout Mike Tomlin as the NFL franchise’s 16th head coach this afternoon in a press conference held at team headquarters.

Tomlin, who was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter at receiver for the College, becomes just the third Steelers Head Coach since the 1969 season and takes the reigns of a Steelers team that is coming off an 8-8 record in 2006.

The last William and Mary alumni to lead an NFL team was Dan Henning, who had two head coaching stints, one with the Atlanta Falcons (1983-1986) and another with the San Diego Chargers (1989-91).

Tomlin played with the College from 1990 through the 1994 season and finished his career with 101 receptions for 2,053 yards and 20 touchdowns. He ended his senior season by earning 2nd-team All-Yankee Conference honors in 1994.

Tomlin comes to the Steelers after a spending the 2006 season as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. The position was both his first with the team and as a coordinator, but showed immediate results as he oversaw a unit that ranked #8 in the NFL in total defense, a 13-spot jump from the previous season and a group that ranked in the top 10 for the 1st time since the 1994 season when the Vikings were 5th. Tomlin inherited a defense that had not ranked out of the 20s in total defense since 1998 (13th overall).

The 2006 Vikings led the NFL in rushing defense for only the 3rd time in franchise history and allowed the 2nd-fewest rushing yards by an NFL defense since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The 985 rushing yards allowed trailed only the 2000 Baltimore Ravens’ modern NFL record of 970 yards.
Tomlin came to Minnesota after five seasons as a defensive back coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Numerous players earned post-season honors for their play during his coaching tenure. Perennial Pro Bowl CB Ronde Barber earned trips to Hawaii in 2001, ’04 and ’05, and S John Lynch was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2001 and ’02. During Tomlin’s time in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers’ defense led the league twice in overall defense and was ranked in the top 5 in the NFL in total defense and in pass defense in 4 out of 5 seasons.

In 2005, Tampa Bay led the NFL in total defense, allowing 277.8 yards per game, and finished 6th in the NFL in passing defense at 183.1 yards per game. Tomlin helped guide Barber to his third career Pro Bowl selection as he set a Tampa Bay single-season record for most tackles by a cornerback with 120, breaking his mark of 111 in 2003 and 2004.

The Tampa Bay secondary led the defense in 2004 to final rankings of 5th in total defense (284.5 ypg) and 1st in pass defense (123.3 ypg

Despite several starters missing time to injury in 2003, Tomlin’s defensive backs formed one of the NFL’s top secondary units as they helped the Buccaneer defense finish 5th in the league in total defense (279.1 ypg) and 3rd in passing defense (169.1 ypg).

In 2002, Tomlin guided one of the most productive defensive backfields in the NFL, culminating with its performance in Super Bowl XXXVII. The secondary recorded 4 of Rich Gannon’s 5 interceptions, returning 2 for TDs to help Tampa Bay capture the franchise’s first Super Bowl title. Jackson’s two first-half INTs earned him Super Bowl MVP honors while Smith returned both of his INTs for TDs to set a Super Bowl record.

The secondary led a defensive unit that ranked 1st in the NFL in pass defense in ’02, allowing only 155.6 yards per game through the air. The defense led the NFL with 31 interceptions and also led the NFL by limiting opposing quarterbacks to a 48.4 rating and just 10 TD passes. Under Tomlin’s tutelage, Lynch earned 1st-team All-Pro honors for the 4th consecutive season and was selected to the Pro Bowl for the 5th time.

Tomlin joined the Tampa Bay staff and made an immediate impact in 2001 as he helped the Bucs’ defense to a 5th-place ranking in the NFL in pass defense and second in the NFL with 28 interceptions. Under Tomlin’s direction, Barber earned his first career trip to the Pro Bowl as he tied for the NFL lead with a career-high 10 INTs. Lynch was selected to his fourth-straight Pro Bowl after passing the 100-tackle mark for the sixth-straight season.

Prior to joining Tampa Bay’s staff, Tomlin served two seasons as the defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati (1999-00). Under Tomlin’s direction in 2000, the Bearcats ranked eighth in the nation in INTs as well as fourth nationally in total turnovers. Prior to joining the Cincinnati staff, Tomlin had a short stint on the coaching staff at Tennessee-Martin and then spent two seasons at Arkansas State. He coached the wide receivers there in 1997 before switching to defensive backs in 1998. Tomlin spent the 1996 season as a graduate assistant at the University of Memphis, where he worked with the Tiger defensive backs and special teams units. He began his coaching career in 1995 as WR coach at Virginia Military Institute.