McDaniels, Tomlin have taken similar paths”
When Josh McDaniels and Mike Tomlin face each other Monday night for the first time as head coaches, the football world will watch two of the game’s brightest young coaches at work. Observers will also see two men who took strikingly similar paths. McDaniels and Tomlin are bright, engaging men who worked their way up from being small-school athletes to Super Bowl-winning, coveted assistant coaches. Both took over for Super Bowl-winning legends in cities steeped in football tradition. “These are two similar guys,” said retired safety John Lynch, who played under both McDaniels and Tomlin during his career. “Both Mike and Josh are highly intelligent, strong-minded football men. They really are similar.” As we prepare for a pivotal AFC matchup in Denver, let’s look at the career paths taken by these 30-somethings who look as if they will be roaming the sidelines for a long time: Age McDaniels: 33 (33 when hired). Tomlin: 37 (34 when hired). The playing field McDaniels: The son of a legend
