James Andrew Tomsula (born April 14, 1968) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and head coach of the

Rhein Fire Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * SM ...

of the

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional sports#American football, professional American football sports league, league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, S ...

. Serving as a defensive coach throughout his career, Tomsula has also been the head coach for the

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

and the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Tomsula was born and raised in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

suburb of

Homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

. Attending

Catawba College Catawba College is a private college in Salisbury, North Carolina. Founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Classis of the Reformed Church in Newton, the college adopted its name from its county of origin, Catawba County, before moving to its c ...

, he played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

from 1987 to 1990, after transferring from

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together off ...

after the 1986 season. At Catawba College, Tomsula made 109 tackles in two seasons.

Coaching career

Catawba College

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, he 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 The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a ...

Championships. Notably, Tomsula was inducted into the

Sports Hall of Fame 2015.

NFL Europe

Tomsula was an assistant for several years in

. He was the defensive line coach for the

London Monarchs The London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football (WLAF). The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs. In 1999, they were re ...

in 1998 and for the Scottish Claymores from 1999 to 2003. In 2004, he became the defensive coordinator for the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

, a position he held for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Tomsula became the head coach of the

for the 2006 season. The Fire would finish the season with a 6–4 record, but did not qualify for the playoffs.

San Francisco 49ers

Assistant coach

The 49ers hired Tomsula to serve as their defensive line coach during the 2007 season and he remained in that role through the 2014 season. During the 2010 season, Tomsula was named interim head coach for the Week 17 game versus the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, after head coach Mike Singletary was fired with one game remaining in the season. He won his first game as 49ers head coach, 38–7 over the Arizona Cardinals. For the 2011 season, incoming new head coach

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

retained Tomsula in his previous position as defensive line coach where he would remain through all four seasons of the Harbaugh era.

Head coach

On January 14, 2015, Tomsula became the 49ers' head coach, succeeding Jim Harbaugh, who had been forced out by 49ers CEO

Jed York John Edward "Jed" York (born March 9, 1981) is an American businessman who is the CEO of the San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise. York is the son of Denise DeBartolo York and John York, and nephew of former 49ers owner Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. Ea ...

. Tomsula employed new coaching practices, which included giving his players breaks to check social media during meetings, shorter, easier practices, and more days off. The result was one of the worst offenses in team history. Scoring only 238 points, the 49ers would struggle to a 5–11 season, with

Colin Kaepernick Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and football quarterback who is a free agent. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt dur ...

ending the season on injured reserve after being benched. The 49ers would ultimately be eliminated from postseason contention in Week 14 of the 2015 regular season. Tomsula was fired just a few hours after the 49ers' season finale against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, which the 49ers won 19–16 in overtime. On January 4, 2016, York confirmed that the 49ers would pay Tomsula $14 million for his one season as head coach.

Washington Redskins

On January 23, 2017, Tomsula was hired as defensive line coach for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Dallas Cowboys

On January 8, 2020, Tomsula was hired as the defensive line coach for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. On January 8, 2021, Tomsula was fired along with defensive coordinator

Mike Nolan Michael Tullis Nolan (born March 7, 1959) is a former American football coach. Nolan previously served as a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, and a defensive coordinator for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Washington Redskins ...

Rhein Fire

In the 2022 preseason the management of the new

announced that former NFL Europe Rhein Fire head coach Jim Tomsula will also be the first head coach for the upcoming season of the

. 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 post-season.

Head coaching record

NFL Europe

NFL

*Interim head coach

ELF

Personal life

Tomsula's grandfather, James J. Tomsula (1916–2012), was a son of immigrants from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He is a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, but does not push his views on others, stating that "God takes care of everything...I don't give anyone religion lessons." 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.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomsula, Jim 1968 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom American football defensive linemen American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American people of Hungarian descent American people of Italian descent Berlin Thunder coaches Catawba Indians football coaches Catawba Indians football players Catholics from Pennsylvania Charleston Southern Buccaneers football coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches London Monarchs coaches Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football players Rhein Fire coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches San Francisco 49ers head coaches Scottish Claymores coaches High school football coaches in Pennsylvania People from Homestead, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Washington Redskins coaches Players of American football from San Jose, California European League of Football coaches