First, can you talk a bit about some of the influences you had as a coach over your career?
Well, I started off in Detroit in ’74. We had such a great staff of assistant coaches there. We all learned form each other. Raymond Berry was the wide receivers coach – Bill Belichick was an assistant coach. And Jimmy Carr was there – he was a great secondary coach. Rick Forzano was the head coach and we called the coaching staff the Detroit Mafia.
Farzano started the idea that everybody uses today – that special teams would be treated as its own thing with its own coach . We made up that system – we revolutionized how teams handle special teams. We kicked people’s butts on special teams because we were the only ones to use that type of application.
We also liked to blitz a lot and be aggressive. Carr liked to blitz when he was with the Bears. When Farzano asked me who I wanted to work with on defense I said I wanted that guy who coached the Bears defense. He asked who it was and I said I didn’t know who it was but he was way ahead of everybody else.
And we also had some guy named Nick Saban who had some success as well as a coach. I actually hired Saban because of Tony Dungy. Before Dungy and Mean Joe went on their own way after Pittsburgh – however that happened – I wanted to hire them. I would have hired Dungy in a second. But the Steelers wouldn’t give us permission to hire them. They could work for anyone but me! Both wanted to come work for me but it was funny – Pittsburgh just had this funny thing with me.
But Tony called me one day and told me “Jerry, I’m running the bump and run here at Michigan State.” I asked him what he was talking about. He told me there was a guy who was coaching it just like I did. That was Jimmy Carr. I hired him five days later
A lot of course is made of that rivalry between you and Noll and the two teams in general. From your perspective, what started that all?
What happened was, as an assistant coach in Houston, I sat in the press box when we played Pittsburgh – this is when I coached for Hugh Campbell. I sat next to Dungy, actually. Well Pittsburgh was up big on us and sacking us every play – pointing their fingers in the air and celebrating. I thought to myself that if I ever became head coach I would never allow that to happen. I learned a lesson then.
I remember Warren Moon asking me once in the second quarter of a game in Pittsburgh if I’d ever let him throw the ball. I told him when I do, it’ll be for a touchdown, not a sack. I changed the philosophy when we played Pittsburgh. We were going to play smashmouth football too – that’s where the expression started. If you didn’t do that, Pittsburgh would embarrass you.
How did you guys prepare for Pittsburgh?
In training camp, every Wednesday we had Pittsburgh day. We scrimmaged each other and played against whatever Pittsburgh did. That’s how important that game was to us.
The Oilers never won a game in Pittsburgh before I got there. They were 0-26! I had to switch that mindset around and become a more physical team – and Chuck did not think it was fun playing us anymore.
Was the animosity between you two overblown – was it “real”?
His assistant coaches – Tom Moore and Rollie Doetsch -said after we started winning Chuck had an Oilers day every week during the offseason. After I started coming after them, he started making us a priority.
Our two teams played each other two times a year, but we spent time preparing for each other every week. I’m not sure Chuck even knew that Rollie and Tom worked with me when we were in college. Tom told me that I had really gotten under Chuck’s skin since we started beating Pittsburgh.
Why did he get so angry with you?
When we beat them in Pittsburgh Chuck called me a “No Good Son of a Gun.” He said we were hitting them everywhere – after the play, high and low…..I just told him that we were just doing the same thing Pittsburgh liked to do to everyone else. That we were just doing what we had to do.
Pittsburgh didn’t just want to beat you – they wanted to knock you out. We took that same philosophy. If we beat them playing Frisbee ball – throwing the ball around – he wouldn’t have cared as much probably. But beating them the way we did – by beating them playing the same way he wanted his team to play – I think that’s what got him so angry. We didn’t speak again for years after that.
Any memories stand out most to you from those games?
Beating Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh during a snowstorm – it didn’t get any better than that. It was so cold. Pittsburgh had great fans but everything was just frozen.
We threw a bomb down the sideline – you couldn’t see the yard marker or anything because of the ice and snow. I think it was out of bounds but I was able to convince the officials it was in bounds. I feel bad about that now. The next play we ran a sweep to Lorenzo White for a touchdown.
Pittsburgh had unbelievable linebackers. I would have taken any one of them in a trade. Both teams really just tried to kill each other. It wasn’t political correctness then. You couldn’t play now they way those teams played then. There were only four teams in the AFC Central and three would make the playoffs every year. The only games we lost were to each other!
Any of those Steelers players stand out to you most, besides the obvious guys?
Bubby Brister – he was hard-nosed and tough. I remember a game against Pittsburgh where we were winning and it was near the end of the game. Pittsburgh kept faking injuries to stop the clock. After three or so I pulled the official aside and told them that I was calling the commissioner on Monday. That there better be blood or bone visible if another guy got injured.
Well, we blitzed them the next play and Brister was hit from the blindside by Keith Bostic – I think we knocked him out. The official came up to me and asked me if I needed to see blood or bone on that one!
I loved playing against Brister though. He was tough – reminded me of Brett Favre in a mental attitude kind of way.
Who were the guys that you loved to coach?
Lyles, Dishman, Bostic…We had two tough defensive linemen in Smith and Childress. Those two were as good as any in the game. Every third play they’d tackle someone for a loss. No one could handle guys like that – they could change a game. I think that drove Noll crazy – he stayed up trying to find ways to handle that. There really was no love for each other then.
Were you ever worried things would go too far with the physicality?
There was no such thing as too far then. We both played hard.
It’s funny – one year we played Cleveland in Cleveland in the playoffs and beat then. A reporter in the press conference afterwards asked if we were embarrassed after the win. I asked why and he said there were 17 penalties in the game. I told him he must be from the West Coast – welcome to the AFC Central! And he was by the way – he was from San Francisco where they didn’t like to hit people.
So, what’s next for you?
I loved my last season in the XFL. We held opponents to 1.2 yards per play – run and pass – for two games. That never happens.
Every year as a coach you try to get better and better. You have to keep evolving and changing what you do. Offenses are going to tight formations and bunches so you have to have answers for that and squash that out. The Ravens are using the RPO so you develop ways to stop that.
For me now – it’s just off to find another job. I enjoyed the XFL . We had a great Thursday practice and the next day the doors were closed and we were out of business. So I hope to get another chance.
If Pittsburgh called…?
Oh that would be fantastic – they would be my all-time favorite team to coach for. We all tried to be tough coaches and teams.
Chuck actually tried to hire me as their defensive coordinator before I went to Houston. I got offers from Pittsburgh and Houston, but Pittsburgh offered me $65,000 and Houston gave me $85,000. Chuck told me to look at the Pittsburgh sideline, because those guys will be kicking Houston’s butt when I was in Houston.
I think it did upset him when I chose Houston. No one likes to get turned down.
It’s interesting – when we saw each other in Canton years ago he was very gracious to me – it was like nothing had ever happened before. I think back then we both had coached with so much physicality. It wasn’t normal.
Do you think one of the reasons for the conflict between you two was because you two were a lot alike in how you approached the game?
It’s funny you say that because Joe Greene said that to me. He said he thought Noll hated me because we were so much alike and when I started to have success, it angered him because I was doing what he wanted to do. When we started winning by being as physical as they were I think that created a lot of anger for him.
But for me it was just about two teams wanting to win. I admired Chuck and those teams of his. I knew we had to change our ways to beat them. We were 0-26 against Pittsburgh when I became head coach. You couldn’t throw the ball around like a frisbee and beat them. You had to knock them around and whip them, or they’d do it to you.
What makes you a good coach?
I coached at Hawaii and I remember the president of the university coming out in his shorts and muumuu shirt, asking me what he can tell people about me. I told him that I’ll be the best teacher they have on campus. No matter how good you are I’ll work to make you better. That’s my goal.
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