Michael Gerard Sullivan (born December 22, 1967) is a former

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 ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and current assistant

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

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). He played in the NFL 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 ...

and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Early years

Sullivan attended St. Francis DeSales High School, where he was a three-year starter and was named All-Midwest as a senior. He accepted a football scholarship from the

where he was redshirted as a freshman. He played his first two years at left offensive guard, before being switched to

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

as a junior. He started a school record 48 consecutive games (all of the games in his college career), despite dealing with different injuries, including the removal of a benign tumor near his left ear in 1989. Sullivan contributed to a 44-4 record, two national championships (1987, 1989), and the first 36 contests of the 58-game NCAA record home winning streak. One of two players in school history to earn an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship (only 15 are awarded per year) and the only two-time winner of the CBS/Toyota Leadership Award. In 2009, he was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Sullivan was selected in the sixth round (153rd overall) by the

in the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

, with the intention of playing him at

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. He originally failed his physical but was later approved to participate in training camp. He was waived on August 26 and later re-signed to the practice squad. After being signed to the active roster, he was released on November 22 and re-signed to the practice squad.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

. He played four years mainly as a back-up

and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He became a free agent on February 16, 1996.

Chicago Bears

On March 26,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, he was signed as a

by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He was released before the season started on August 28.

Coaching career

Sullivan helped four teams to championships over the span of his coaching career in the

European Federation of American Football IFAF Europe is the governing body of American football in Europe. It is a member of the International Federation of American Football. IFAF Europe replaced the European Federation of American Football (EFAF) which had began in 1976 as the American ...

. After spending the 2000 season as a graduate assistant for the

, he joined former Hurricane coach

Butch Davis Paul Hilton "Butch" Davis Jr. (born November 17, 1951) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Florida International University. After graduating from the University of Arkansas, he became an assistant col ...

's coaching staff with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. He was an offensive assistant for three-and-a-half seasons and coached tight ends for half a season in 2004. On January 21, 2005, he was named offensive line coach at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. In 2007, he was named the offensive line coach for the Browns. In 2009, he was hired as the offensive line coach of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. In 2013, he returned to the Browns as their offensive line coach. In 2014, he was hired as an assistant offensive line coach for the

References

External links

Miami Hurricanes Hall of Fame bioWestern Michigan Broncos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Mike 1967 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards American football centers Miami Hurricanes football players Dallas Cowboys players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Miami Hurricanes football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches San Diego Chargers coaches Tennessee Titans coaches American people of Irish descent