Hearing ‘Mike Tomlin’, most NFL fans and members of the league will immediately think of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s for good reason. Tomlin has been the most consistent head coach in the league since joining the Steelers in 2007. However, before his time began with Pittsburgh, Tomlin held down an assistant role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early 2000s.
The Buccaneers were Tomlin’s entry to the NFL coaching world. He started with them in 2001 as a defensive backs coach and maintained that position through the 2005 season. He would then leave to become the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator for a season before finding his home in Pittsburgh. During his time in Tampa Bay, Tomlin had the chance to coach one of the best defenders we’ve seen in recent memory in Ronde Barber. Tomlin and Barber have seemed to maintain a good relationship ever since.
That was evidenced by praise Barber recently had for Tomlin. Barber sat down with Barstool Sports’ Jon Gruden on Thursday, speaking to Tomlin’s importance in his football career.
“To me, he’s my number one,” Barber said of Mike Tomlin. “There’s a reason why he put my gold jacket on for me. The Hall of Fame wanted you to have a sitting gold jacket guy put your jacket on. I was like, you know what, I’ll have John up there with me, Lynch be up there with me, but I want Mike to put my jacket on… What Mike gave me was this level of ‘I think you are the best to ever play your position’, he told me that.”
Barber references Tomlin claiming he’s the best to ever play the cornerback position, and while Barber may not truly hold the spot, he’s one of the game’s most unique. He finished his career with 28 sacks and 15 forced fumbles, production typically reserved for a linebacker, not a corner. Baber was named First-Team All-Pro three times.
Before Tomlin, Barber was already a good cornerback. Tomlin took him to the next level. In their first year together in 2001, Barber earned his first First Team All-Pro recognition in his career, and had a league-leading 10 interceptions.
Tomlin clearly made a massive impact on Barber. Barber chose Tomlin to put his gold jacket on, which he referenced in the interview. We often hear about the winning seasons streak as a reason as to why Tomlin’s been such a good coach. However, examples from great players like Barber put Tomlin’s career in a whole new light.
