By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

Dressed in a black suit and a gold tie, Mike Tomlin oozed confidence, class and character, displayed a cool demeanor, along with toughness and a quick sense of humor as he addressed the media in a press conference to introduce him as the Steelers new head coach.

"It is a great honor to be a part of one of the most storied franchises in all of professional sports," said Tomlin, who was joined by his wife Kiya at the press conference. "We are coming to grips with what that means, but we are having fun.

"We intend to make no bold predictions about what we are going to do. What we are going to do is promise to have a first-class blue collar work ethic in how we approach our business."

Tomlin, 34, was named the 16^th head coach in Steelers history and only the third since 1969 when the team hired Chuck Noll. Tomlin succeeds Bill Cowher, who resigned after 15 seasons coaching the black and gold.

He is inheriting a team that won a Super Bowl a year ago and has the nucleus coming back.

"They are physically and mentally tough, they have a reputation for being that," said Tomlin. "They have some quality players, their resume speaks for themselves. I am sure that the recent Super Bowl success and the failure that followed will make them a hungry group of men.

Tomlin was the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator last season. The Vikings defense was ranked number one against the run in the NFL and eighth overall in total defense.  

"Mike is a great communicator, he knows how to tell players what he wants from them and gets them to follow through with his directions," said Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress. "He did a great job for us and I know the people in Pittsburgh will really like him once they get to know him."

Prior to joining the Vikings he was the defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While there, the Bucs lead the NFL in pass defense in 2002 and 2004 and ranked third in 2003. In 2002 the Bucs also lead the NFL in interceptions, the same season the team won Super Bowl XXXVII.

"Mike Tomlin is an outstanding young coach who certainly is deserving of his chance to be a head coach," said Rich McKay, the President and General Manager of the Atlanta Falcons, who was the GM of the Buccaneers during part of Tomlin's tenure there. "I have no question he will be successful as the next Steelers coach."

Tomlin is the same age as Cowher when he was hired by the Steelers, while Noll was 36 when he was hired. When Tomlin takes to the sidelines on opening day this season, he will be the fourth youngest head coach to debut in the NFL since the merger in 1970.

Age is not something that concerns him, though, even though some players are just a few years younger than he is.

"I don't think it will take them long to realize that my goals as a coach are no different than any other coach that they have ever had," he said. "I think mutual respect is required. I have a job to do from a coaching standpoint and they have a job to do from a player's standpoint. My age is my age. I have never had a problem with men. When I broke into the league I coached John Lynch and John was older than me. I don't anticipate it being a problem, and really more than anything I just look forward to getting to know the men and moving forward.

"Everyday I go to work, I live to learn. I've been blessed enough to be around some great coaches and great strategists, great leaders of men. I feel like I learned a lot from all of those people but at the same time I realize that I have to be myself. I am who I am as a coach. I don't characterize it as a 34-year-old coach, or a 34-year-old coach with experience. I'm a football coach.

Tomlin did not play in the NFL, but was a starting wide receiver for three seasons at William and Mary. You would think that he would be enamored with the air attack as a result of his playing days, but that's not the case.

"I wasn't a very good wide receiver," quipped Tomlin. "Playing personality and coaching personality are two different things. I've learned that over time. This happens to be my coaching personality."

And that personality is a hard-nose defense and doing what the Steelers have done best over the years – running the ball. 

"A fundamentalist football team that wins by attrition, that is mentally and physically tough," said Tomlin of his style. "Of course, it is no secret in the National Football League that in order to win you have to stop the run and you have to run the ball effectively. I think to be general that is what our football team will be about.

"I promise that I'm going to be blue-collared in how I go about this business, thoughtful in terms of the decisions that we make. We're going to work extremely hard. We're going to work smart."