Have you ever wondered what Jim Tomsula's doing these days? Has your daily life ever been interrupted for a second by this intrusive thought, contemplating what the former salesman of meat and doormats (separately) could be up to? Well, I won't speak for you, but I wonder this all the time. Now there's an answer: He's doing great.
After his glorious one season as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Tomsula was fired at the start of 2016, condemned to roam the railyards or go back to coaching the defensive line, which is essentially the same fate. He shaved the mustache and went to the Washington Commanders for a couple of seasons, then took a gig with the Dallas Cowboys that lasted until January 2021. At that point, he vanished from pro football ... until now.
There he is, the creator of Jimbos, emerging from the sideline and positively glowing. That's the stride of a man ready to shout, "How the hell are ya?" at anyone who crosses his path. Tomsula returned to Germany, the spot of his first HC gig, to coach the Rhein Fire in their inaugural season. He originally coached the team in 2006 as part of NFL Europe, but this iteration of the team is an expansion of the European League of Football. In this interview from June 5, before the Fire's season opener against the 2021 title-winning Frankfurt Galaxy, Tomsula soaked it all in.
"This is great! We've got a Fire-Galaxy game going on today," he said to the Ran TV interviewer. "This is awesome! Pinnacle of sports right here, man."
That day the Fire beat the Galaxy, 29-26; this past Sunday they defeated the Leipzig Kings, 28-17. (You can find the Week 2 highlights here, if you're into that sort of thing.) Tomsula's team is 2-0 and playing hard-nosed football, as evidenced by this 96-yard fumble return for a touchdown by some guy who played college ball at Samford:
That was a better on-field highlight than anything involving the 2015 49ers. So, what's Jim Tomsula up to? He's bringing immediate success to a German football team and appears to be loving every minute of it. There are no Jimbos in sight.
H/t to Rodger Sherman
