Tuchel began coaching during his final season at Ulm, as well as studying for a business degree and working in a cocktail bar.
Ralf Rangnick – one of German football’s most influential coaches – gave Tuchel his first coaching opportunity by hiring him as a youth-team coach at VfB Stuttgart in 2000.
Tuchel helped with the development of future Germany internationals Mario Gomez and Holgar Badstuber before returning to Augsburg in a similar role in 2005.
Tuchel took charge of the club’s second team in 2007 after gaining his Uefa pro licence, and joined Bundesliga side Mainz 05 the following year.
After winning the Bundesliga Under-19 title in his first season – the first in the club’s history – Tuchel was promoted to first-team manager and soon began to excel.
“He made such a phenomenal impression on me that he became coach of our senior team,” Mainz managing director Christian Heidel said.
After leading Mainz into the Europa League twice in five seasons, Tuchel stepped down and took a year out of football.
In 2015 he returned with the unenviable task of replacing Jurgen Klopp as Borussia Dortmund head coach, before he joined Paris St-Germain in 2018 and Chelsea in 2021.
In 2023 Tuchel replaced Julian Nagelsmann as Bayern Munich manager, but he left at the end of last season with a year remaining on his contract after they failed to win the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years.