STEELERS' TOMLIN LATEST HEAD-COACH GRAD, JOINING EDWARDS, LEWIS AND SMITH
Eighty-three minorities are taking part in this summer's NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship Program, the NFL announced today.
Also this year, the Minority Coaching Program produced its fourth graduate to be named an NFL head coach.
The graduate is new Pittsburgh Steelers head coach MIKE TOMLIN, who joins HERM EDWARDS of the Kansas City Chiefs, MARVIN LEWIS of the Cincinnati Bengals and LOVIE SMITH of the Chicago Bears as active head-coach graduates of the program.
Tomlin, who is only the Steelers' third head coach in the past 38 years, interned with the Cleveland Browns in the summer of 2000 when he was the defensive backs coach of the University of Cincinnati.
Tomlin definitely feels that the fellowship prepared him for his new job. "The coaching fellowship gave me an opportunity to learn what I needed to do if I wanted to coach in the NFL," he says. "As a head coach, I plan to utilize the fellowship to the fullest to give others the same opportunities that were afforded to me."
The fellowship provides training-camp coaching positions for minority coaches at NFL clubs. More than 1,200 minority coaches have participated in the program.
Tomlin's ascension was just one of many notable appointments for minority coaches and administrators - some with fellowship experience -- in the NFL and colleges in the offseason:
» HUE JACKSON was named the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator by new head coach Bobby Petrino. Jackson partook in the NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship in 1995 with the Washington Redskins when he was an assistant at Arizona State.
» RANDY SHANNON became the first African-American head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. Shannon, a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys in 1989-90, participated in two minority fellowships as an assistant with Miami - with Dallas in 1993 and Chicago in 1994.
» REGGIE BARLOW, a wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-03, was named head coach of his alma mater, Alabama State. Barlow tutored Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson as ASU's quarterback coach.
» GEORGE KOONCE, a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks from 1992-00 and the Packers' director of player development in 2006, was appointed senior associate athletic director of Marquette University. Koonce has a master's degree in sports management from East Carolina.
» JERRY REESE was named only the New York Giants' third general manager in the past 27 years. The team's director of player personnel, he learned of his elevation on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 15). "I thought about that a lot, and it was perfect timing," says Reese.
Following is a list of some NFL coaches who have participated in the NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship Program:
| 2007 GRADUATES OF NFL MINORITY COACHING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM | ||
| Club | Coach | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | Hue Jackson | Offensive coordinator |
| Atlanta | Ollie Wilson | Running backs |
| Baltimore | Dennis Thurman | Defensive backs |
| Buffalo | Eric Studesville | Running backs |
| Buffalo | Tyke Tolbert | Wide receivers |
| Chicago | Hardy Nickerson | Linebackers |
| Chicago | Lovie Smith | Head coach |
| Cincinnati | Jay Hayes | Defensive line |
| Cincinnati | Ricky Hunley | Linebackers |
| Cincinnati | Marvin Lewis | Head coach |
| Dallas | Brian Stewart | Defensive coordinator |
| Green Bay | Ty Knott | Offensive quality control |
| Houston | Martin Bayless | Assistant/defensive backs |
| Houston | Jethro Franklin | Defensive line |
| Indianapolis | Gene Huey | Running backs |
| Jacksonville | Robert Prince | Wide Recievers |
| Kansas City | Herm Edwards | Head coach |
| Kansas City | James Saxon | Running backs |
| Miami | Keith Armstrong | Special teams |
| New England | Pepper Johnson | Defensive line |
| New Orleans | Tony Oden | Defensive ass't./secondary |
| New York Giants | Andre Curtis | Defensive quality control |
| New York Giants | Thomas McGaughey | Assistant/special teams |
| Oakland | Don Johnson | Assistant/defensive line |
| Philadelphia | Juan Castillo | Offensive line |
| Pittsburgh | James Daniel | Tight ends |
| Pittsburgh | Mike Tomlin | Head coach |
| San Diego | Wayne Nunnely | Defensive line |
| San Diego | Kevin Ross | Ass't. defensive backs/quality control |
| San Diego | Matt Simon | Running backs |
| San Francisco | Johnnie Lynn | Defensive backs |
| Tampa Bay | Raheem Morris | Defensive backs |
| Tampa Bay | Art Valero | Assistant head coach |
| Tennessee | Sherman Smith | Assistant head coach/running backs |
| 2007 NFL MINORITY COACHING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM | |
| Club | Coach (background and present affiliation) |
|---|---|
| Arizona | Maurea Crain (Troy State), Don Lee (Morgan State), Terry Smith (Gateway High School), George Teague (Former NFL player) |
| Atlanta | Ricky Brumfield (Fairmont State), Maurice Drayton (Goose Creek High School), Ted White (Texas Southern) |
| Baltimore | Terance Mathis (Former NFL player), Larry Webster (Former NFL player) |
| Buffalo | Steve Little (Trinity), Nathan Poole (Former NFL payer), Adrian White (Former NFL player) |
| Carolina | Gary Brown (Former NFL player), Sam Garnes (Former NFL player), Dwight Stone (Former NFL player) |
| Chicago | Derek Dewitt (Trinity), Mikal Smith (Trinity) |
| Cincinnati | Ron Dugans (Georgia Southern/Former NFL payer), Carl Powell (Former NFL player), Henry Stanford (Elmhurst College) |
| Cleveland | Patrick Esume (Unaffiliated), Mike Jones (Lebanon High School/Former NFL player) |
| Dallas | Eric Mathies (Western Kentucky), Marshun Middleton (Lane College), Chris Simpson (Wisconsin-Whitewater) |
| Denver | Darian Hagan (Colorado), Jashon Sykes (Colorado) |
| Detroit | Chennis Berry (Morgan State), Ranier Caldwell (Belhaven College), Carl Embry (Adrian College), Willie Tillman (Bethel College) |
| Green Bay | Jovan Dewitt (St. Norbert), Terrence Murphy (Trinity Valley Community College/Former NFL player) |
| Houston | Joe Tarrod Bowen (Central Oklahoma), Michael Bryant (Prairie View A&M), Gary Harrell (Florida A&M), James Ward (Colorado State), Charlton Warren (Air Force) |
| Indianapolis | Brad Jackson (Former NFL player), Aaron Kelton (Columbia), Ernest Wilson (New Mexico State) |
| Jacksonville | Cedric Figaro (Former NFL player), Darryl Jackson (Florida Atlantic) |
| Kansas City | Grady Brown (Alabama State), Daron Roberts (Unaffiliated) |
| Miami | Chris Calloway (Former NFL player) |
| Minnesota | Frank Gonzalez (Monterrey Tech, Mexico) |
| New England | Herb Haygood (Michigan State) |
| New Orleans | Timothy Edwards (Hampton), Jaime Elizondo (Hofstra), Bobby Johnson (Indiana), Travis Moore (Arena Football) |
| New York Giants | Tavian Banks (Louisville), Ervin Chambliss (Union) |
| New York Jets | Lomas Brown (Former NFL player), Al Holcomb (Lafayette), Arlington Nunn (Stephen F. Austin State) |
| Oakland | Cris Dishman (Menlo College/Former NFL player) |
| Philadelphia | Isaiah Caldwell (Former NFL player), Cedric Calhoun (Dartmouth), Andrew Dees (Temple), Charles Johnson (Former NFL player), Donnie Roberts (Lehigh) |
| Pittsburgh | Jeff Burrow (Jacksonville State), Nathan Cochran (Blackburn), Canute Curtis (Tennessee State/Former NFL player) |
| St. Louis | Eric Green (Former NFL player), Will Reid (Trinity Valley JC), Joel Wade (Eastern Washington) |
| San Diego | John Allen (Unaffiliated), Lewis Bush (Former NFL player), Herbert Parham (Morgan State) |
| San Francisco | Darryl Yukio Eto (Unaffiliated), Larry Jackson (Houston), Kaz Kazadi (South Florida) |
| Seattle | Manny Martinez (Texas Southern), Terrell Williams (Purdue) |
| Tampa Bay | George McDonald (Minnesota), Joseph Tumpkin (Southern Methodist) |
| Tennessee | Rodney Blivens (Birmingham Southern) |
| Washington | Eric Brock (Haskell Indian Nations University), Darryl Sims (Former NFL player), Barry Wilburn (Former NFL player) |
