Tomlin’s first taste of professional coaching came in 2001 when he was hired as the defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and proved himself as one of most gifted defensive minds in NFL history.
During his tenure in Tampa Bay, the Bucs almost always boasted a top-five defense, and even won their
Super Bowl XXXVII matchup with the Raiders on the back of five interceptions from Tomlin’s defense.
After his excellent stint as the defensive backs coach in Tampa, Tomlin was hired by the Minnesota Vikings to become the organization’s
defensive coordinator. Strangely enough, a couple of his Vikings teammates were older than Tomlin, and he was even coaching one of his former college teammates from William & Mary, star safety Darren Sharper.