Tomsula began his coaching career as a strength and conditioning coach at Catawba College in 1989. After serving as an assistant coach at Charleston Southern under defensive coordinator Fred Hamilton from 1992 to 1995, Tomsula returned to Catawba College, where he was a member of the coaching staff until 2005 and helped lead the Catawba Indians to four South Atlantic Conference Championships. Tomsula was inducted into the Catawba College Sports Hall of Fame 2015.[4]
NFL Europe
Tomsula was an assistant for several years in NFL Europe. He was the defensive line coach for the London Monarchs in 1998 and for the Scottish Claymores from 1999 to 2003. In 2004, Tomsula became the defensive coordinator for the Berlin Thunder, a position he held for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Tomsula became the head coach of the Rhein Fire for the 2006 season. That year, the Fire would finish the season with a 6–4 record but did not qualify for the playoffs.
San Francisco 49ers
Assistant coach
In 2007, the San Francisco 49ers hired Tomsula to serve as their defensive line coach and he remained in that role through the 2014 season.[5] During the 2010 season, Tomsula was named interim head coach for the regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals after head coach Mike Singletary was fired.[6] Tomsula won his head coaching debut 38–7.[7] For the 2011 season, incoming new head coach Jim Harbaugh retained Tomsula in his previous position as defensive line coach, where Tomsula remained through all four seasons of the Harbaugh era.
Head coach
On January 14, 2015, Tomsula became the 49ers' head coach,[8] succeeding Jim Harbaugh, who had been fired by 49ers CEO Jed York.[9]
Tomsula employed new coaching practices, which included giving his players breaks to check social media during meetings, shorter and easier practices,[10] and more days off.[11] The result was one of the worst offenses in team history. Scoring only 238 points,[12] the 49ers struggled to a 5–11 season, with quarterback Colin Kaepernick ending the season on injured reserve after being benched.[13]
On January 3, 2016, Tomsula was fired just a few hours after the regular-season finale against the St. Louis Rams, which the 49ers won 19–16 in overtime.[14] A few days later, York confirmed that the 49ers would pay Tomsula $14 million for his lone season as head coach.[15]
Washington Redskins
On January 23, 2017, Tomsula was hired as defensive line coach for the Washington Redskins.[16] In 2020, with the hiring of new head coach Ron Rivera, Tomsula was free to find a job elsewhere.
Dallas Cowboys
On January 8, 2020, Tomsula was hired as the defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys.[17] He reunited with defensive coordinator Mike Nolan who was his head coach with the San Francisco 49ers. Tomsula faced heavy restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of physical contact with the players, their availability due to a positive test for COVID-19 or having been exposed to someone who had it, a reduced training camp schedule and the cancellation of preseason games, which made it difficult to implement the new defensive scheme. To make matters worse, most of the free agent signings for the defense were ineffective. The team would finish with a losing record (6-10), while the defensive unit allowed the most points in franchise history (473), finishing 31st in the league in run defense (158.8 YPG), 28th in scoring defense (29.6 PPG) and 20th in sacks (31). On January 8, 2021, he was fired along with defensive coordinator Nolan.[18]
Rhein Fire
In the 2022 preseason, the management of the new Rhein Fire announced that Tomsula would be the first head coach for the upcoming season of the European League of Football.[19] In their inaugural season, Tomsula coached the expansion Rhein Fire to a 7–5 record, the second best in the Southern Conference though the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.
In 2023, Rhein finished the regular season 12–0, and Tomsula earned a nomination for Coach of the Year.[20]
Tomsula has worked as a medical equipment sales representative, newspaper delivery man, firefighter, night janitor, firewood cutter, department store floor cleaner, food sales representative, and doormat salesman.[24]
