Mike Tomlin and Josh McDaniels are 30-something head coaches who turned out to be wise hires.
Raheem Morris, Eric Mangini and Lane Kiffin are 30-something coaches who may have gotten their NFL head coaching gigs before they were ready.
Tomlin coached his first Steelers team at 35 and won a Super Bowl at 36. McDaniels is a rookie coach at 33 for the Broncos.
Tomlin’s 5-2 Steelers meet McDaniels’ 6-1 Broncos this Monday night at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Clearly, youth hasn’t hurt these coaches’ ability to lead.
“I really wasn’t concerned about that element of it as I’m sure Josh McDaniels wasn’t concerned about it,” Tomlin said by conference call with the Denver media this week. “I think the natural relationship between coaches and players is something that’s understood in this game. Those guys know that from the coaches’ standpoint, we know how to put them in the best position to excel. They respect that element of it. I think more is made out of those transitions than meets the eye.”
Morris, who is four months older than McDaniels, is 0-7 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mangini was 10-6 as a rookie coach in 2006, when at 35 he led the New York Jets to the AFC playoffs. But now at 38, he has already been fired from one job and is 1-7 at the start of his new job with the Cleveland Browns.
Kiffin, the NFL’s youngest-ever head coach when he was hired at 31 years, 8 months, was 5-15 before he was fired early into his second season with the Oakland Raiders. He is now coaching the University of Tennessee.
Tomlin is 30-13, counting his three playoff wins last season. Apparently, some coaches have it and some coaches don’t, whether they’re 35 years old, or 45 or 55.
“His team is always going to play with great emotion and energy,” McDaniels said of Tomlin. “You never see them with a lack of effort, and I think that is a testament to what he does on a weekly basis or a daily basis with his football team. He is a positive influence on a lot of people. That didn’t really affect whether or not I thought I could do this or not, but (he is) certainly a guy that most of us would emulate.”
