Let’s just say Mike Tomlin’s coaching career had nowhere to go but up. Once a wide-eyed assistant at Arkansas State, his first task of running a group ended in the opponent running one back. In a training camp interview with ESPN’s Kevin Clark, Tomlin still remembers the early flub.
“The first time I was responsible for a unit,” Tomlin told Clark. “We were playing the University of Minnesota, I was at Arkansas State. And I was in charge of the kickoff team. We gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff of the game.