Two of the biggest NFL storylines of the preseason track right back to William & Mary. Alumni Mike Tomlin '95, L.H.D. '08 and Joe Brady '13 are in the spotlight as they take on new roles in broadcasting and coaching, respectively.
 
Tomlin debuts this season as a lead studio analyst on NBC's Football Night In America (FNIA), the popular national show that leads into the Sunday primetime game.



Also this season, Brady makes his debut as head coach of the Buffalo Bills, becoming the third Tribe football player to take the helm of an NFL team. He joins fellow Tribe alumni Tomlin and Sean McDermott '98 in the elite football fraternity.
 
"These guys are competitors, and they want to do well, and in order to do well, I guarantee you there will be nobody more prepared than those two guys," said former William & Mary football coach Jimmye Laycock '70, who coached Tomlin, Brady and McDermott with the Tribe. "Whether it's Joe being a head coach or Mike being a TV analyst, they'll prepare like it's the Super Bowl."
 
Tomlin, who never had a losing season and won Super Bowl XLIII during a 19-year tenure as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, will be front and center when FNIA kicks off its regular-season schedule on Wednesday, September 9, in advance of the NFL's opening contest between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
 
Tomlin is new to television but no stranger to media coverage.
 
"It's been a fun process to be a novice at something, and I've got a little bit of performance anxiety," Tomlin said during an interview on The Today Show. "But it's good. I like that. I like being on edge. I like being the newbie. I've trained myself over the years to tune out some of … what I refer to as noise. Now the noise is my business."
 
Brady makes his head coaching debut on Sunday, September 13, when the Bills take on the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium.
 
Brady takes over a team with Super Bowl aspirations after winning at least 10 games and making the playoffs the previous seven seasons (and eight out of nine) under McDermott. Brady served as an assistant on McDermott's staff for four years, the last two as offensive coordinator.
 
"There's not a person in this room or this city or wherever that has higher expectations, and I'm always asking them of myself," Brady told WGRZ, the NBC affiliate in Buffalo. "I know the mindset that I have. We can talk a lot in this profession, but at the end of the day we've got to actually go do the work. I know what's expected of me, and I'm just excited to kind of wake up and do what I've got to do each day."



Tomlin and Brady have been the subject of much national coverage over the last few months.
 
"I never felt pressure because I'm ready for this," Brady said in a Fox Sports piece. He was also featured in Newsweek Magazine and on multiple ESPN platforms.



Tomlin showed off his witty personality in interviews with ESPN host Rich Eisen, NBC's Dan Patrick and on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
 
"I don't know if I grew up thinking about sitting in this chair, brother," Tomlin told Fallon. "I lived the athletic life. This wasn't on my bucket list, but I'm glad to be here."
 
He expressed nervous excitement of starting this new chapter in his career.
 
"I'm excited and nervous at the same time about this new challenge and new space I'm in," Tomlin said during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. "I'm certainly paying respect to it from a prep standpoint and gleaning information from my peers, particularly those I have relationships with that have done it at a high level. I've sought a lot of advice. I've gotten a lot of advice. I'm really excited about doing a good job for the viewing audience."