Mike Tomlin Michael Tomlin ( born March 15 , 1972 ) is the current head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the American Football Conference . Tomlin is the third youngest head coach in any of the four major North American professional sports . He is the tenth African - American head coach in NFL history , and first in Steelers history . With the Steelers ' victory in Super Bowl XLIII on February 1 , 2009 , Tomlin became the youngest head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory . High school and college years . Tomlin attended Denbigh High School in Newport News , Virginia and was a three - year starter as a wide receiver / tight end for the College of William and Mary , where he became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity . He finished his career with a school - record 20 touchdown catches . He was a second - team All - Yankee Conference selection in 1994 . Tomlin never played in the NFL . Coaching career . College . Tomlin ' s coaching career began in 1995 as the wide receiver coach at Virginia Military Institute under former West Virginia University head coach Bill Stewart . He spent the 1996 season as a graduate assistant at the University of Memphis , where he worked with the defensive backs and special teams . Following a brief stint on the University of Tennessee at Martin ' s coaching staff , Tomlin was hired by Arkansas State University in 1997 to coach its defensive backs . Tomlin stayed there for two seasons , before being hired as defensive backs coach by the University of Cincinnati . All of Tomlin ' s coaching jobs at the college level were for NCAA Division I teams . 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 . In 2002 and 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 . 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 , and the worst - ranked defense against the pass . Head coach . Tomlin became the 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 ) , 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 , Rooney himself disputes this , as he had already interviewed a minority candidate prior to interviewing Tomlin . 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 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 . 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 . Tomlin set a Steelers record for most wins , after winning 22 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 . 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 ' s Lovie Smith and 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 . 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 . On July 13 , 2010 , Tomlin signed a three - year contract extension with the Steelers . 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 . 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 . Personal . Tomlin was born in Hampton , Virginia as Michael Pettaway Tomlin and is the younger of two sons ; his brother , Eddie , is three and a half years older . Their father , Ed Tomlin , played football at Hampton Institute in the 1960s and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts . However , Tomlin hardly knew his birth father and was raised by his mother and stepfather . He later played for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League . The elder Tomlin died in January 2012 from an apparent heart attack in Ocala , Florida , at the age of 63 . Tomlin ' s mother , Julia , married Leslie Copeland , a supervisor for the U . S . Postal Service , in 1980 . Tomlin met his wife , Kiya Winston , while they were students at The College of William & Mary , where Tomlin majored in sociology . He graduated in 1995 . They have three children : sons Michael Dean , born in 2000 , and Mason , born in 2002 ; and a daughter , Harlyn Quinn , born in 2006 . Tomlin resides with his family in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and attends the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church . Tomlin is a spring 1991 initiate of the Eta Omega chapter at Old Dominion University and charter member of the Xi Theta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity , The College of William & Mary . Tomlin is popularly known for his uncanny resemblance to actor Omar Epps . Tomlin ' s name was referenced on an episode of the TV series " House " in November 2009 in Episode 8 of Season 6 , " Ignorance is Bliss " , when House mentions feeling like Mike Tomlin because of having his team back , then states probably not as much as Foreman ( Epps ' character ) . Head coaching record . Coaching record vs . other teams ( regular season ) . How the Steelers fared in games with Tomlin as head coach . Coaching record vs . other teams ( playoffs ) . How the Steelers fared in playoff games with Tomlin as head coach .