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Exclusive with Pennsylvania Football History

First, how did you got started with the PA Football History site and your coverage of Pennsylvania high school football?

I started around 2012 – I originally did it as a site on my alma mater – I’m not sure what spurred me on to the idea. I dug into newspaper archives – online and physical – and kept going until I reached the point where I found everything I could. You never actually find everything of course – but I wanted to keep going. I had a desire to keep doing it – it was addictive.

Trying to cover the whole state was too big to do – so of course I figured, why not try it? Others have done similar things on a more regionalized or school-specific basis – I’m not the only one who does it generally. But my goal was to create a community where people with a similar interest could all join together. It may be a small group but it’s a lot of fun when you find a group with a similar interest. I joke that we”re like a 2023 ham radio group!

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Lineman Donald Evans, 1990-1993

First, can you let me know how you got started with Nehemiah Builders, Inc. and the Ram Athletic Foundation, Inc. – including your contributions to youth sports after your NFL career? What prompted you to start those endeavors?

After retiring from the NFL, I moved back to my hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. My twin brother Ronald was in the construction business and a few of my family members were licensed general contractors. After working with family and learning the business, I decided to take classes to prepare for licensing.

After successfully becoming licensed, I started my own plan, design-build and renovation company. Coming from humble beginnings, my twin brother Ronald and I were the youngest of 18 children and my father passed when we were a year old. The poverty we endured compelled me to do better and be better. It is fulfilling to help others and give them an opportunity to excel and become their best self.

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Exclusive with Former Oilers Cornerback Cris Dishman

First, can you let us know about your coaching career -your start in the XFL and mentors/approach?

I’m the defensive backs coach now for the XFL’s New York Guardian team. It’s such a young league I don’t have much to talk about yet, but we’re looking for quality guys who may not all have been able to make it in the NFL but who have a fire and passion for the game.

The coaches that helped shape my coaching career were guys like Nick Saban, who helped show me technique and was very demanding. Phil Bennett as well – he was very family oriented. Pat Thomas coached the defensive backs with the Oilers and he and Rod Perry ended up giving me the techniques and drills that are the foundation for the drills I use today with my players. I had some great coaches over my career.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Running Back Lou Baldacci, 1956

First, can you let me know what you got into after football? Was the transition difficult?

I got into developing real estate – subdivisions and that kind of thing. My brother was involved in it and we both decided to form a company together.

I don’t remember the transition being difficult – it was seamless for me. After that first season with the Steelers I had to do my military service obligation and went into the Air Force. I was assigned to the Hamilton Air Force Base in San Francisco and ended up playing for their football team as well. Guys like Frank Speno, Bob McElwee and Charles Eckerly were all good players there too.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Tight End Michael Hinnant, 1988-1989

First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?

I work for a pharmaceutical company – Merck – as their operations manager. I’ve really been managing people since I stopped playing ball. I supervised group homes for kids and spent years in security first, since I had a criminal justice degree. I’ve been at Merck now for 19 years.

Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult?

After I was released in my second year in Pittsburgh I started working in the criminal justice system, so I was able to transition in the offseason. I worked with court-adjudicated delinquents. That made the transition easy for me before I started getting into other things.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Assistant Mike Miller

First off, how did the season go coaching the quarterbacks for the Toronto Argonauts?

It was fun being back in Canada! I was blessed to help coach a really good team. Our quarterback, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, led the league in passing and we won the Grey Cup. Bethel-Thompson was actually injured in the fourth quarter of the Grey Cup and we were losing at the time, but our backup Chad Kelly drove us for two scores and the win.

I’m proud of what the quarterback room accomplished – the whole team really – it was a special group. The coaches and players. We had some great leaders on the team – they never quit. It was just one of those seasons.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Joe Long, 2012-2103

First, can you let us know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

After football, I moved to Michigan and got married and had a son. We bought some property here and built a house. We’re on 20 acres of land here.

My old roommate at Wayne State – he worked at Enterprise Rent-a-Car and helped get me a job there. I started off as a trainee and went on to manage their vehicle repair and maintenance for Southeast Michigan for three years.

Now, I just recently took a job with Amazon working in their fulfillment center in Detroit.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Center A.Q. Shipley, 2009

First – seems like you have a ton going on. Coaching, podcasts… What have been some of the key things you’ve found interest in post-NFL?

The biggest thing is getting to explore the different schemes that people run now on Pat McAfee’s show. I was in a Bruce Arians scheme for much of my career – now I can dive into other schemes and watch film as a coach and see the creative and different things others are doing. It’s fun to learn all of that and go talk about it.

Pat McAfee and I have been friends for years – we went to each other’s weddings. He asked me to come on and talk about offensive line stuff – to break down what was going on around the league on camera and show what I know and what allowed me to be successful over the years.

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Exclusive with Ron Tepper, Steelers Scout/Draft Researcher for Myron Cope

First – can you tell me what you’ve been up to?

I worked from home – I was a licensed health insurance agent. I also did marketing for producers – but that slowed down due to Covid. A lot of those people met face-to-face before and were reluctant to use things like Zoom or Skype. So I took time off and am in retirement age now.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers LInebacker Reggie Lowe, 1999

First off, can you let us know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

I played in the XFL and Canada for a while, but by the time I got to Canada my knees were shot. I coached high school after that for four years then got into personal training. But the bottom fell out of the economy so I got into construction. Now I’m the GM of a construction staffing company here in Alabama.

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