First, can you tell me about your coaching career – what got you into coaching and who some of your biggest influences were?
It’s easy – when I was in high school in Tacoma, Washington I graduated early. This was back in 1978. My high school coach asked what I was going to do for the rest of the eight months before college started. I told him I didn’t know and he said he’d try to get me into college early.
Well, I ended up going early to the University of Washington – eight months early And if you can imagine, I was the only one there that early – no orientation. I was on my own. It was sink or swim.
When I attended the football meetings it was the same way – sink or swim. Chick Harris was the coach then and he told me it was up to me – I was in meeting rooms with guys who had been there for one or more years – I needed to learn the system. It was sink or swim.
In Dallas when I was a player Norv Turner was the offensive coordinator there. He came up t9 me and said he thought he was going to get a head coaching offer soon and wanted me to come work for him. I laughed – he was an offensive coach and I played defense – I told him he didn’t even know me. Why would he want me to work for him?
He told me the other coaches spoke so highly of me.
What do you think they were saying about you?
I think they saw how intrigued I was about how things are put together – I see thing as concepts. As a safety, my job was to help the rest of the defense get on the same page – like a quarterback. I was able to take a gameplan they gave us on Wednesday and be ready to implement it in practice. I didn’t have to be told things. And those are the kinds of players I liked too – smart guys that learn things quickly, I think they said I had those intangibles – that’s what I think they were talking about with him.
How did you end up coaching for the Steelers after your time in Detroit and Cincinnati?
LeBeau was a defensive backs coach and scouted me when I was in college. So I had a relationship with him. When I was in Dallas Jimmy Johnson brought in a new, older system called the quarters defense – the cover 4. It went away years ago and he brought it back and no one knew what it was.
Well, LeBeau called me when I was there and asked me what the heck we were doing in Dallas? We spoke for an hour about it – who did what in the defense – the roles of every player. We talked for an hour and I went into detail about the whole defense, That’s the kind of relationship I had with my coaches.
So after Cowher’s first year in Pittsburgh there was an opening for a defensive backs coach. They offered me the job but I actually declined it. I didn’t think I was ready yet – so I said no – I just felt I needed to be more seasoned first. They came after me again though later and that time I said yes – I had more experience. It was the right decision both times. Not every job offer is the right one – it may not be the right time or place.
What made the Steelers such a different place to coach at – if it was?
For me, what made it different – I remember the time and place -the exact moment and the room I was sitting in.
We lost the AFC Championship game versus New England and that Monday we had our team meeting. I was sitting in the back like usual and Cowher let all of the players get up and speak. Ward and some of the other guys got up and talked with such passion – real tears – about not getting Jerome Bettis to a Super Bowl. I thought “Are you kidding me?” They were upset for Jerome Bettis. I never saw anything like that.
We ended up wining the Super Bowl with Jerome in Detroit of course. But that’s when I knew how different it was. The culture. It wasn’t just words. The tradition and culture – it was the way of life there and was ingrained in the team from the Rooneys down to the players.
What do you think you brought to the team as a coach?
I don’t think I brought anything new to the team. I just did my job. If you asked the players I think they’d say I brought a sense of been there done that – a sense of calm. I brought in a certain way of learning – an apparatus that helped them learn in ways they didn’t before.
What do you mean by that?
You know Occam’s Razor? That’s how I tried to live my life – my kids know this. Sometimes- not always – the simplest solution is the best one. That’s how I coach.
If I asked you how a plane stays in the air, you wouldn’t know the four principles of flight. You wouldn’t need to know. You’d just need to understand that you needed enough speed to overcome gravity. What I try to do is teach to the lowest common denominator. Troy Polamalu – he’d tell me I didn’t need to explain things to him – he got things so quickly.
But some other players- they’d need to be shown before film, then on the film, then in person. If I have to do all of that, that’s fine. Everybody has their own way of learning. But the key is you have to know how you prefer to learn. Good coaches – they’ll know how to teach to all of those ways.
I’ve learned from so many players and coaches. I remember telling Deshea Townsend that if I got a coaching job he’d be the first guy I wanted to hire. I saw so much of me in him – he learned so quickly. Should he be a coordinator some day? Absolutely. A head coach? You bet. Will he get that opportunity? We’ll see.
Was Bill Cowher very hands-on with you?
Yes, and no. He was one of the few coaches I know that were uniquely qualified to coach any position. Some guys have specialties. I know Cowher’s forte’ was special teams, but he knew everything about every position. You couldn’t BS him about anything,
Every person I know has influenced me. Everyone is a blessing or a lesson. My high school, coach, Don James in college, Sam Wyche, Forrest Gregg, Jimmy Johnson – I was influenced by all of them and they were blessings. I tell people that if there is a great person in your life find out what makes them great and try to emulate those things.
But there are coaches that are lessons too. Sometimes you have to understand what makes someone horrible to be around and learn lessons from that. If a guy is always apologizing for saying things, then at some point that’s just who they are. If you learn what they are doing, you can learn what not to do as well. I never wanted to be an insensitive person – I never wanted to be that kind of person.
Who fit in the positive dynamic?
In Cleveland the security guard there gave me a hug once. He said “Coach, I love who you are!” We didn’t win much there of course.
Paul Brown told us two things when I was in Cincinnati that stayed with me. The first, pay everything in cash. I’ve done that. I owe no one anything because of that.
The second was a story about coaching in Cleveland. They flew as a team to Miami to play the Dolphins and stayed at a hotel. When they got to the hotel they said “You guys can stay here – but they can’t.” Now, you know who the “They” were. This was in the 60’s. When Paul told them either they all stayed, or they were all leaving. Well, the hotel let them stay. It was a powerful story for me.
And Cowher?
Cowher was fiery and passionate – I know most see him that way. But he was considerate too. When I first walked into the offices with my wife, he walked right to her before they were introduced and knew her name and welcomed her.
He was a real softy for the players – I know he’ll kill me for saying that! He loved them. But he’d chew out a coach in public.
One time in practice I had a scout team player make a mistake – it was the first team offense versus the scout team. I caught the mistake right away and corrected it immediately. But he kept looking down at the script for practice. He was maybe 30 yards away from me and started to yell across the field “Ray, get over here!” Then he started cussing me out about the player. I told him I corrected the player right away, then started to walk away and he called me back again to cuss me out more. Then he did it again. The players at that point were laughing hysterically.
But that was Cowher. He knew I had corrected the player. But no detail was too small. He cussed me out in front of everyone – he wanted everyone to know how important the small details were.
Any other fun stories you remember of your time there?
A fun one is about Chris Hoke. He was a BYU guy – a great guy. He was a backup noseguard – not one of the guys getting the big money. He wasn’t one of the superstars, but he did all of the dirty work and helped all of the other guys.
Well, one day we were practicing in the big practice bubble they had. After practice you had to cross the lot in front of the river to get back to the facility. Well, some of the players bet him $1,000 he wouldn’t jump into the river. It was like 20 degrees out. Well, he ran and jumped in. People were shucked. He came out and just said to us “Christmas gift money!”
But that’s how the players were. They were uber competitive. Cards too ….and they’d roll up tape and play basketball in the locker room. They were such a competitive group of men.
Any of those guys stand out to you?
Troy – I met him at the combine before I went to Pittsburgh. He’d answer everything “yes sir. No sir.” I told him to stop calling me sir, and he said “Yes sir.”
The next season I was in Pittsburgh – Troy in the meetings understood everything – he always had things figured out. In fact, there was a game we played against Atlanta. Troy blitzed and Atlanta scored a touchdown on the play. Bill called down to me upset – he asked me what the cornerback was doing – I think it was Deshea. I told Bill that it was on Troy – it was cover 2 and Troy decided to blitz. Bill just said “Oh, ok”. Bill had no problem giving Troy that kind of leeway because he made the right move more than the wrong one most of the time.
Troy was such a juxtaposition. He was so nice but mean and nasty and aggressive on the field. It was like Superman and Clark Kent. He was so soft-spoken – you had to lean in to hear him. But on the field he was so intense. It was an interesting dichotomy.
So, what’s next for you?
I want to buy a plane. I’m happy – content in my life. I’ve been to every state in the United States and every continent except South America and Antartica. I want to fly to Chile then go up to Antartica to say I’ve done everything on my bucket list. Maybe also go to every province in Canada as well – that would be the next thing. Once I do that, maybe fly to as many airports as I can in the United States.
It’s interesting – Pittsburgh is such a unique place to play directly due to the people. I liken it to Star Trek. There are only a couple of Enterprises in Star Fleet. Well, Pittsburgh is like the NFL’s Enterprise. Just three head coaches in what – 60 seasons? That’s due to the ownership, coaches and players. How many teams can say they’ve just had three head coaches in over 60 years?
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
