Mike Tullberg and the five coaches that have graduated from Borussia Dortmund's reserves to the first team
Nuri Sahin’s time in charge of Borussia Dortmund came to an end on Wednesday, with the club he represented with distinction as a player choosing to part ways with him following just one win in his last nine matches. Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League reverse to Bologna, the club’s fourth defeat in a row, proved the final straw for a club languishing in 10th in the Bundesliga.
The Black-Yellows have opted to replace Sahin with a temporary solution, with former reserve team coach Mike Tullberg taking charge on a caretaker basis until a long-term replacement is chosen.
The German - currently of the U19s - becomes the latest Dortmund reserves coach to graduate to senior men’s football, with several well-known tacticians across Europe having come through the coaching ranks at Signal Iduna Park. bundesliga.com looks back on the most notable of the bunch...
Current club: Borussia Dortmund
Previous BVB experience: Dortmund II (July 2019 - June 2020), Dortmund U19s (June 2020 -)
Former forward Tullberg played football in Italy, Scotland and Germany, as well as his native Denmark, before hanging up his boots and moving into coaching in 2013. After stints in Germany’s lower leagues, he returned to Denmark to become assistant at Vendsyssel FF. His BVB journey began in July 2019 when he took charge of the reserves for 25 games, before moving to the U19 side a year later. The 39-year-old has overseen 132 matches to date, leading the tyros to U19 Bundesliga glory in 2021/22, before his interim promotion to the first team on 22 January 2025.
Daniel Farke
Current club: Leeds United
Previous BVB experience: Borussia Dortmund II (November 2015 - June 2017)
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Farke coached BVB’s reserves for 56 matches earlier in his career, before flying the nest to England, where he’s become something of a promotion expert. The German twice led Norwich City to the Premier League – the Canaries crowned champions in 2018/19 and again, following immediate relegation, in 2020/21 – before returning to his homeland to coach Borussia Mönchengladbach for the 2022/23 season. Now back in England’s second tier with Leeds United, he’s hoping to add a third Premier League promotion to his CV.
David Wagner
Current club: None
Previous BVB experience: Dortmund II (July 2011 - October 2015)
A close friend and teammate of Jürgen Klopp’s during their playing days together at Mainz, Wagner was reunited with his old pal after swapping Hoffenheim’s youth teams for Dortmund’s reserves in 2011. He oversaw a whopping 164 games, impressing enough to earn a switch to English Championship club Huddersfield Town in 2015. Wagner led the Terriers to Premier League promotion and even kept them there, before being sacked in 2019, with the club sliding towards relegation. He’s since enjoyed roles at BVB rivals Schalke, Swiss outfit Young Boys and Norwich, in England’s second tier. He’s been out of work since leaving Carrow Road in May 2024.
Jan Siewert
Current club: Greuther Fürth
Previous BVB experience: Dortmund II (July 2017 - January 2019)
Siewert has had the pleasure of following in Wagner’s footsteps not once, but twice – at both Dortmund and Huddersfield. He traded Hoffenheim’s U19s to take charge of the former’s reserves in 2017, lasting 55 games before being lured to England as Wagner’s replacement. Premier League relegation contributed to a short spell lasting just 19 matches, before Siewert returned to Germany to coach at Mainz and current club Greuther Fürth, in Bundesliga 2.
Hannes Wolf
Current position: Germany assistant
Previous BVB experience: Dortmund II assistant (July 2009 - June 2010), Dortmund U19s (July 2010 - Feb 2011, July 2015 - February 2016), Dortmund U17s (July 2011 - June 2015), Dortmund II (February 2011 - June 2011)
Wolf never reached the top level as a player, but he’s certainly made up for that as a coach. Julian Nagelsmann’s assistant with the Germany national team spent six years coaching various levels at Dortmund, racking up more than 180 matches, including 15 in charge of the reserves. He’s since gone on to coach the likes of Hamburg, Genk and Bayer Leverkusen. He first joined the DFB’s coaching staff in 2020, and has been Nagelsmann’s right-hand man since the latter took over from Hansi Flick in September 2023.
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