MMQB (cont.)

In his first season as a head coach at any level, Mike Tomlin guided the Steelers to a 10-6 record and the AFC North division title. Al Tielemans/SI

"Ever notice when we're kids, we dream wildly? And then when we grow up, we start dreaming realistically? Why is that? The way I've lived my life since I left William & Mary is to be that big-time dreamer. It's how I got where I am today.''

This is what Tomlin told the class of 2008 at William & Mary:

"The one common bond that the really successful people I've met have is they're ridiculous dreamers. I'm a ridiculous dreamer. Continue to dream. Don't let the reality of the world diminish those dreams.''

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VMI, Memphis, Tennessee-Martin, Arkansas State, University of Cincinnati. Then five years with the Bucs under Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden, then a year in Minnesota as defensive coordinator.

Then a job interview with the Steelers. Pittsburgh officials will never admit it, but he was an afterthought at the start, a guy who -- as a black coach -- helped the franchise fulfill the Rooney Rule, named after the owner of the team, Dan Rooney. The league, spurred on by Rooney, mandates that each team interview at least one minority candidate. The Steelers had two strong in-house candidates, and everyone thought one of them -- offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt or offensive line coach Russ Grimm -- would get the job.

Then Tomlin came in for an interview. At a way-too-young 34, he spoke respectfully but bluntly. It was the only way he knew. The Steelers' president, Art Rooney II, asked him about benching a respected veteran in Minnesota, Fred Smoot, for a promising rookie, wondering how he had justified taking a healthy vet out of the lineup for an unproven kid. Tomlin said it was because the kid, Cedric Griffin, was better, and he had to go with his gut.

The Steelers interviewed Whisenhunt, Grimm and Tomlin a second time. Tomlin -- the underdog, the outsider -- was going to win only if he was a different, big-upside, strong-willed leader the Rooney family was sure had a better chance to be great than the incumbents. They judged that he was. They judged that the guy with the big dreams was also the guy who could produce big. "We wanted a coach with the courage of his convictions,'' Art Rooney II told me last year. "We had good, strong internal candidates for the job, and whoever came in from the outside was going to have to jump over that bar. We thought Mike did.''

Tomlin got the job. The Steelers won a division title in his first season as a head coach at any level.

And that is why Mike Tomlin gave two commencement addresses last weekend. Listen to him. He doesn't know everything, but he knows enough that counts.