Mike Tullberg left Borussia Dortmund last September to join FC Midtjylland. He’s enjoying success with the Danish club. He talks about his time at BVB.
Mike Tullberg served as interim coach for Borussia Dortmund’s first team for three games before returning to the U23 squad.
After just a few weeks with the youth team, he accepted an offer from FC Midtjylland and left BVB after a total of six years. About three months later, it’s clear that the move was the right one.
Tullberg is making his mark with FC Midtjylland in European competition and is also in contention for the title in Denmark. His record: 15 competitive matches and an average of 2.33 points per game.
The 39-year-old, who took his first steps as a coach during the 2012–2013 season at SG Schönebeck as an assistant to Christian Petereit, hasn’t changed a bit back in his home country.
I celebrated just as enthusiastically with the youth team after wins in the Westphalia Cup, but nobody noticed it there.
Mike Tullberg
In Denmark, too, Tullberg is very impulsive on the sidelines. When the former Rot-Weiß Oberhausen forward served as BVB’s interim coach, Sky expert Dietmar Hamann described Tullberg’s exuberant celebratory gestures after a win in Heidenheim as “embarrassing.”
“That wasn’t planned—it was pure euphoria because I was able to help the club closest to my heart. I’ve always been like that: I celebrated just as wildly after wins in the Westphalia Cup with the youth team, but nobody noticed back then. I’m still the same coach I was in Dortmund—both personally and professionally. It’s just that, in my view, a coach who gets emotional is quickly pigeonholed,” Tullberg now explains in November 2025 in “Sport Bild.”
Tullberg didn’t view having to return to the U23 team after three games on the sidelines of the first team as a disappointment, as he explains: “Lars Ricken and I have a special relationship, and he communicated it to me very transparently. I was very proud to have been able to coach the team for three games. But it was clear to me that the path to becoming a Dortmund first-team coach wouldn’t go through the youth ranks, so I was very happy to make the move back to the U23s. But when the offer from Denmark came, I couldn’t say no.”
In Denmark, he’s celebrated by Midtjylland fans and soccer experts alike. The emotional Tullberg is allowed to be just as he is. He’s allowed to let loose.
A certain Said El Mala is currently doing just that in the Bundesliga, wearing the jersey of 1. FC Köln. In “Sport Bild,” Tullberg revealed that he once wanted to lure El Mala to BVB. That was in 2024.
“A lot of people would have liked to see him in Dortmund. I had the chance to get to know him and his family during our conversations and was very impressed by him. He’s a very down-to-earth guy—he’d even considered ending his career years earlier. The way he’s worked his way back up is impressive. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to sign him at that time,” Tullberg reveals.
At FC Midtjylland, he also has some talented players on the roster, such as top striker Franculino. Perhaps Tullberg will one day develop an FCM player who ends up at BVB. “After six years at BVB, I feel a tremendous connection to this club. And if it were up to me, I’d always prefer to sell our top players to Dortmund,” emphasizes successful coach Tullberg.