First, can you let me know what the next steps are for you?
Well, I don’t know really. I’m probably not going to coach again. It depends on the situation I guess. I’m definitely taking time away from coaching now. But I’m keeping my eye on it. You never say never.
I wanted to start with your coaching style. Despite the fact most coaches are somewhat louder and more aggressive, your style was very different. Why did you approach coaching this way and how did you succeed despite being so calm as a coach?
Well, I played football for a long time before being a coach. I appreciated openness as a player and always wanted to be a coach. I watched and learned from coaches. I related much stronger to a teaching atmosphere. When what was expected was what was explained. To do things in the way it was taught.
Hollering didn’t help me do that. When I was a coach I wanted to treat players the way I wanted to be treated. It’s the responsibility of the player to get the job done. It’s my job to help him do that.
This style just fit my personality. Above anything else we do, you have to be yourself. If you’re not authentic, people can tell. That’s my philosophical approach. A coach is a teacher, and I wanted to teach what I learned and expound upon my lifetime of competition. I wanted players to know I was there to help. That I was in the boat with them, all of us rowing together.
Who helped mentor you and influenced your style as a coach?
The reason why I became a coach was due to my high school coach Jim Bowles. The effort he had on me and several kids from London, Ohio. I thought coaching would be a pretty good way to spend my life. Probably as a high school coach. Coach Bowles cemented that for me.
I wanted to talk to you about trust . You were very reluctant to play guys until you felt you could fully trust them. How did you feel comfortable that a player was able to be trusted – and what did they need to show to have earned that trust?
Well, you can have a great design, but the responsibility and ownership of the play is on the players. They have to put the effort and time in to the position. That’s how you execute team maneuvers as a player. That’s why when we have success we attribute that to the players.
I also let players know it’s not the end of the world if they mess up. We all have messed up. Now, if you continue to mess up, someone is going to step in your place. There’s an aura of reality in sports you have to realize. You can’t hide on the football field. It’s a group endeavor and you share the blame and the success. That’s the way it works in every group sport and endeavor.
Your defenses often played that off-man style that succeeded, but drove some fans and media crazy. How much of that were you aware of and did that affect you at all?
Well, the media you can turn off. I tried not to pay any attention to any of it. If a coach has success and is good, that’s great. When he’s not, he’s roasted. Everybody – particularly sports people – have opinions. And they are generally quite willing to share them with you!
In terms of that style of play and defensive needs, what specifically did you do to help make those players successful in those schemes – what skillsets did you look for?
Well, for me, that’s just my approach to coaching – teaching. You do all you can do to prepare yourself and the players. You research and study other teams you play and stay current. Players have to be diligent in their study of opponents for their role. To do all you can in what you can control. You can always get better and it’s a group effort. You share the good and bad. It’s not one guy – it’s a combination of pressure and coverage.
People lose track of the fact that the other side has gifted players too. And the greatest throwers in the world are throwing passes to them. And the defense has the whole field to defend. Whether man or zone, the player has his area to cover. He has a responsibility. He can step up and close on those short passes that some fans don’t like, but nothing loses a game faster than a long touchdown pass when they let someone get behind them. And that’s my role. To take that heat. As they say, if you can’t take that heat as a coach, get out of the kitchen. You have to be confident in your approach.
How did you divine the line between being close to players and still being the coach?
You have a personal relationship with players. I made sure they they knew my sole purpose was to teach and help. To give coaching advice and make sure players saw in my behavior what they heard in my words in meetings. What I said I believed. That’s how I would want my role to be with them.
It’s a bond. I’m here to help them. To help them improve. These are friendships with guys I’ve created now, literally decades ago, some of them. What I said is what I did. It’s hard to be a coach at times. When the team isn’t going well, it’s the coach’s fault. It’s all part of sports. You have to be able to accept that.
I wanted to talk to you about communication. This Steelers team had struggled in that area for a while. It seems your defenses didn’t have those communication issues – especially to this level. What did you do to make sure your defense was so successful in this area?
Ha! I wish that were true all the time! I had some defenses that didn’t know what side of the field the end zone was on!
It’s a group endeavor. You’re not going to be good all of the time. It’s about giving guys better odds.
I was lucky to have a long career. I played for years in high school, college, the pros. I’ve been in those situations as much as anybody. I always wanted to be a coach. I studied the mechanics of football. My experience was my advantage if I applied it well.
Thank the good lord, I was able to convey those things to players, I was able to help players. I knew the techniques – I learned them over my lifetime of study. So, there’s no magic formula, no. It’s just dealing with the situation. I’m a problem solver and have been very fortunate to have terrific players and defenses.
Any good memories to share?
I have a number of meaningful memories, some happy, some heart-wrenching. When you coach football and defenses, you live with these guys -in the same quarters for nine out of twelve months, you become close. You become a family. That’s a word that’s used a lot but it doesn’t always mean what I am speaking about. To have real success, you have to be a family. Those are personal memories that I’ll keep to myself, until I probably write a book someday.
You’ve always been known as one of the more innovative coaches in the NFL What made you so innovative – and how did the coaches and teams you played for help that freedom to innovate?
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doodling growing up. As little kids in junior high school, we’d play touch football during breaks on the school grounds, and I’d draw up plays then. I always looked for a better way to do things.
Actually, while I was known for the zone blitz, that started in Cincinnati when I was fortunate to have Sam Wyche as my head coach. He was innovative and open-minded to trying something different. I went to him the idea, and he said yes. A lot of coaches would have said no – not on my watch! Do it when you’re a head coach! But he said “Yeah, let’s try it.” It had rough edges at first, but we had enough success early on.
When I got to Pittsburgh, Capers and Cowher and Marvin Lewis were all there. We added a lot of different stuff into it – all really on my skeleton, but they had input. Tomlin also allowed me the freedom – he allowed me to jump off the diving board into the deep end. I appreciated that. He was a defensive coordinator himself.
I guess I was lucky enough to be in the right place with the right people.
Or, you were a good salesman with good ideas!
Ha! I guess yes, I did pick the right times to do so!
I can tell you, the offenses now have caught up to the pressure of that time and defense. We changed a lot of the zone blitz rules. Not to overstate it’s success, but it’s worked out. It’s not foolproof, but it’s still around. You see it in high schools now.
It’s one of the few schemes that traveled from the NFL down through the sport, instead of the other way round, no?
You know, I think that’s a very accurate statement.
It came out of necessity. Good offenses look at what defenses are doing and find answers. so we have to adjust. That’s where teaching comes in – to teach the nuances to make those changes.
Last question for you. You see that changes happening in the NFL. Do you like the direction the NFL is going in?
You know, I never paid attention to that. We all play the same game. We all want to win enough games to make the playoffs. We all want to win enough playoff games to win a Super Bowl. We all have the same deck of cards. I don’t let those things affect me. I’m not a factor in it. I don’t have a say in it. We just all play by the same rules we’re given.
Oh – and I know the Ravens are still our biggest rivals. I think in my association with the NFL – with that rivalry and the games we played – it was the two hardest hitting teams I ever saw. Not just sometimes – every game. It was a continuing affair and both were really good teams and went deep into the playoffs. It’s a great rivalry still.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
