Former NFL head coach and current NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci posted an extremely strong "Throwback Thursday" offering this week when he tweeted this 1977 photo of himself and current Michigan State coach Tom Izzo at the Grand Canyon.


Izzo and Mariucci were childhood friends who roomed together at Northern Michigan University and have remained close ever since. While Mariucci went on to coach the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions, Izzo has established himself as one of the best college basketball coaches ever. He's won four national coach of the year awards, seven Big Ten titles and one national championship. His fourth-seeded Spartans square off against the Virginia Cavaliers in the Sweet 16 Friday in New York City.

The friends' hair isn't the only part of this photo that stands out. Izzo is also wearing a bright "adidas" T-shirt, which makes the image a little awkward because Michigan State is a Nike school and as Chris Strauss of For The Win points out, Izzo himself gets $400,000 a year from Nike to wear their products.

Here's another classic picture of the pair, along with a more recent one:


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