PITTSBURGH -- After working the halls of a national coaches convention, Mike Tomlin grabbed a chair. Legendary coach Bobby Bowden was speaking, and Tomlin, then a young position coach in the college ranks, sought wisdom to take back to his meeting rooms.
Tomlin's older brother was alongside him as Bowden delivered the double-take message to the crowd of 20-somethings about two decades ago.
"He said, 'I treat players according to how fast they are,'" Ed Tomlin said. "We kind of laughed at how honest that was."
Mike Tomlin has the Super Bowl cachet to headline those conventions now.