Mike Tomlin, the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, was hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers -- the first black head coach in the team's 74-year history. He accepted the job Sunday night and the hiring was announced Monday, with the contract to be completed later in the day. He was negotiating a four-year contract expected to pay him about $2.5 million a year.

The Steelers may be close to choosing Bill Cowher's successor. With assistant coaches Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhunt the front-runners, the Steelers wrapped up their fourth interview in four days by meeting Wednesday with Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin. If the Steelers have any more interviews scheduled, they aren't saying. Tomlin is 34, the same age Cowher was when the Steelers hired him in 1992. Tomlin is a decided long shot in Pittsburgh, but is one of the NFL's rising young coaches who also interviewed with the Dolphins. "I don't see myself as 34," Tomlin said. "I just see myself as a football coach." The question now is whether the Steelers -- namely, president Art Rooney II and chairman Dan Rooney -- see Grimm or Whisenhunt as the better head coach. And it could be that both will be head coaches within a matter of days.

Tony Dungy insists he is not taking another coaching job. For the third time in three days, Dungy denied interest in any coaching position other than the one he currently holds with the Colts. A report out of Minneapolis linked Dungy with the job at the University of Minnesota, where he was a star quarterback in the 1970s. There have also been rumors regarding Dungy's interest in the Falcons' opening, where general manager Rich McKay is conducting the search. McKay and Dungy worked together at Tampa Bay.

Vikings wide receiver Travis Taylor was arrested early Monday outside a downtown Minneapolis nightclub, hours after the team's season-ending loss to St. Louis. Taylor, 27, refused an officer's request that he get into a waiting limousine-bus as police tried to disperse a large, unruly crowd so an ambulance could get through around 2:30 a.m., police spokesman Lt. Amelia Huffman said. Taylor was not allowing the bus to leave and began pushing the officer and the officer eventually used a Taser to subdue Taylor, she said.