Tomić started his professional football career at his hometown club HNK Šibenik in the Croatian Prva HNL where he grew up no more than 50 meters away from the Šubićevac Stadium.

in Belgium, before ending his career in 2006 due to a lingering foot injury, after a short spell with Chinese League One club Henan Construction.

Although the core of the side relegated in 2012 remained, marquee signings came in the form of Ryan Griffiths and Lucian Goian, whilst fellow Croatian Antonio Cinotti was added to the backroom staff.

The aim for the 2014 season was to improve on 2013 by finishing in the top 6 and in preparation for this Tomić drafted in Ivica Matas to join his backroom staff.

[9] Baxy also proudly announced the news of four signings from Super League teams whom joined up with the squad for pre-season training in South Korea.

Tomić had found a blend of foreign aid and Chinese talent meaning they were fighting for promotion all the way to the final day of the season.

The club drew new investment from both Yanjing Beer and the Beijing Enterprises Group, promising funds to help turn Baxy into a team competing for continental prizes.

Tomić took charge of Tianjin Songjiang on 11 May 2015, with the club rooted to the foot of the Chinese League One table after only picking up 4 points from 8 games.

He successfully tempted former England under-19 and Coventry City striker Frank Nouble to join the ranks,[15] somewhat of a coup for a Chinese League One side.

Tianjin continued to push up the table but with the need to blood young Chinese talent ready for the 2016 season, the absence of its foreign aid stalled the charge, Tianjin ended the 2015 season in a very respectful ninth position and were notably the only side to beat eventual runaway champions Yanbian in their own backyard.

Just like in Beijing, Tomić was to be replaced as manager, this time by former Real Madrid and Brazil coach, Vanderlei Luxemburgo,[17] but not before the club issued a very complimentary press release.

Having cemented his reputation in China, Tomić continued his managerial reign in the country, signing a deal to take charge of Chinese League One side Zhejiang Yiteng on 10 January 2016.

However, on 22 March the same year, after only two games in charge, Zhejiang Yiteng announced that for personal reasons, Tomić would leave the club by mutual consent.

Whilst leaving the stadium, Šibenik approached Tomić with a request that he considers taking the position to lead the team during the 10-day playoff period.

Šibenik was at home for the 1st leg and contrary to expectation had both the majority of possession and created more goal scoring opportunities than their higher tiered counterparts.

Tomić started his reign with three draws in the first four games, immediately stopping the run of seven consecutive competitive defeats prior to his arrival, laying solid foundations to build upon.

Building which began with a couple of shrewd attacking additions in the form of Brazilian Mário Lúcio and Nigerian Theophilus Solomon, both of whom had worked under Tomić previously.

Tomić left Istra 1961 sitting in fifth place of the Prva HNL with a squad of players in a strong position to achieve its goal of avoiding relegation.

On 5 December 2016, Sven-Göran Eriksson appointed Tomić as his assistant manager at Chinese League One side Shenzhen FC as they embarked on the challenge following the outgoing Clarence Seedorf.

[26] Tomić mastered arguably the shock of the 2017–18 season with a 4–1 away victory at league leaders Dinamo Zagreb, becoming the first manager in the club's history to achieve this feat.

[27] Tomić also went on to guide his young Lokomotiva side to a semi-final appearance in the Croatian Cup, eventually losing on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Hajduk Split.

The rate of goals scored and conceded both improved and unexpected victories were achieved against Al-Sharjah and Al-Ain (twice) which helped earn a nomination for the March Manager of the Month award.

[38] Most importantly however, the points per game significantly increased (from 0.67 to 1.24) and Tomić guided Al-Nasr to finish the season 9th, comfortably safe from relegation.