First, let me know what you’re up to now?

Right now, I moved back to Texas. I have a ranch here. So that’s where I am. We were all let go by the Chargers and I had the opportunity to coach elsewhere but wanted to stay here in Texas. My son is an all-state tight end here playing at TCU. I missed so many of his games the last two years. He was a ballboy with me in San Diego – I missed him and my daughter. It gives me a chance to see her run track. I got to see her at homecoming – seeing things like that is important to me.

I did have the opportunity to coach for Mike T.  But I didn’t know Mike well then and I was close to Ken Wisenhunt. Our wives are good friends and we had guys like Haggans, Porter and Faneca there in Arizona. But I did sit with those guys at the Hall of Fame ceremony – with Farrior, Mike Miller…of course I sat in the Steelers section!

What brought you to Pittsburgh as an UDFA in ’87?

I had a contract I agreed to with the Oilers and they were sending that to me when Ron Blackledge and Chuck Noll reached out and wanted me to sign with the Steelers. The Oilers, Chiefs, Giants and Steelers all had interest. As a Texas guy, playing for the Oilers sounded good.

But I was good friends with Joe Greene too. We were both North Texas guys and my daddy coached Joe before he was Joe – that’s when he was still Charles. I called Joe Greene after Coach Noll called – he asked if I signed the Oilers contract yet. I said no and said if you can get me a $2,000 bonus – the Oilers had offered me $1,000 – I would sign with the Steelers. And they did!

I ended up staying at the Allegheny Center – $660 a month – and Mike Webster would pick me up and drive me to practice

Anyone help mentor you when you got to Pittsburgh?

Kolb – Kolbie – he was my mentor. He stood on the table for me as a coach when I was in Pittsburgh. When I was cut he fought to have them bring me back.  He was from Oklahoma and I was from Texas – we were both kindred spirit country boys and big weight room guys.

It was a small weight room at Three Rivers right off of the locker room. He showed me how to work out – he and Webby. I still use what I call Webby pulls-  that’s what Webster did there.

Any thoughts on the changes you see in how players train versus when you played?

It’s evolved in lots of ways.

First with teams – now they run 7-7’s, back in the day we’d run 9-7’s and take the receivers and defensive backs out of it. It was 60% run, 40% pass then. Now it’s 70% pass. The emphasis was different then – it was a different game. I’ve had 21 surgeries – nine knee surgeries. That was the toll the game had on me.

When I was at North Texas I was the strongest guy to ever play there. I squatted 655 and benched 455. When I got to the Steelers though there were a bunch of strong guys like Terry Long, Webster, Kolbie…

I still run the 350’s Chuck had us run. The point is there was a Steelers mindset. You trained as a team. Now guys train year-round and they start earlier – when they are 12 a lot of the time. And they train year-round for football. We didn’t have that then. Back when we played we played football, and once the season was over we’d go play basketball or some other sport.

Now it’s less about power and more about triple-extension movement and that sort of thing.

Do you like the shift in how players and teams are training?

Well define team. It’s less about the team now. The guys I worked with and saw at the Hall of Fame ceremony – Haggans, Farrior – those teams were different. They’d all work out together in the offseason. When they were done they’d go bowling or fishing together. I think teams miss that.

Now they are all scattered – often they don’t see each other until OTA’s. Don’t get me wrong, they may get together and throw the ball around, but it’s not the same. Now they don’t see each other until OTAs and sometimes now even then as they aren’t even mandatory. So it’s not the same from that standpoint – they aren’t together as much and I think that hurts teams.

After the lockout in 2010 we had 16 IRs – just from Achilles injuries. Guys were training but not being trained, and that was a big difference. When I was with the Jets and Bill Parcells, guys would come up to me and say they needed a day off tomorrow for personal reasons. I’d ask if all was ok and they would say yeah, they just had some things to do. I said ok – just go ask Bill. Well, sure enough, they would show up the next day. The expectation was that you were supposed to be there then.

Now, you don’t see that as much. When I went to Arizona we flipped the culture there. But you can’t do that if guys are all in different places.

What prompted this passion for training and working out in general for you?

When I was released from the Jets I said I was done with football, but a coach approached me and said they had a position for me as a strength coach. I remember watching Jon Kolb – he’d be on the Stairmaster as I went into meetings, and when I got out he was still on it. I was like, “What the heck!” I am a hands-on guy – I tried to evolve and be that guy. That’s the reason I have so much passion – watching him.

I used to run with every position group as a coach – I’d lift in the morning then run with every group. I tried to push the big guys and show everyone that if I could run with every group, they could at least run with their own.

Any players help mentor you?

Webby. I was 51 and he was 52. When I was young I got nervous before games. I asked him if he ever got nervous one day before a game as we were taping our jerseys down. Back then the Steelers were the first team to do that.

Well, he stuck out his hand and shook mine, and it was wet with sweat. He said “If I didn’t feel like this before every game, I wouldn’t be playing.”

Webster helped me in the weight room and just figuring things out. When he tied his shoes you could see his pecs – they were like dictionaries! When Blackledge and Hal Hunter talked to us, they told us to come to them or Webster if they had any questions.

On, and Rod Woodson – he and I came in together. He was one of the best people you’ll ever meet. We got close, but you end up going your own way over time. Like a campfire – you kick the coals and they go here and there and the fire goes out…

Any good memories of your time there?

Back in the day, you’d load the plane from behind and they’d have trash cans filled with ice and beer. You’d grab a beer as you walked on the plane. Once on the plane I asked Webby if I got paid since I didn’t play in the game. He laughed and announced to everyone that I wasn’t sure if I got paid or not since I didn’t play. Everyone laughed at that. I knew after that to keep my questions on the DL!

Also, back then at Three Rivers, you got to the field by walking through a tunnel and the dugout. One day I walked from the Allegheny Center to Three Rivers and it started flurrying. I didn’t have any Winter clothes and by the time I got there it really started snowing. I asked the guys – it was snowing like a son-of-a-gun – if we were going to practice in this. They all laughed at me – “Buckle up cowboy!” they said.

Any guys back then stand out to you?

Terry Long was the strongest guy I had ever been around. He was like granite. He was a good dude and took the game to heart. He was small in stature but no one in that locker room messed with him.

You figure stuff out as you go as a rookie. Like one day I forgot my sweatshirt and I asked Tony Parisi if he had an extra one. They gave those away for free. He asked me what happened to mine and I told him I forgot it, so he just said  “Tough luck. No!” I learned the hard way not to ask him if I needed something – to just go get it. Once I asked him for new socks and he asked what happened to my old ones. I told him they had a hole in them. He told me I couldn’t have new ones – to bring the old ones and he’d fix them up. I had to pull them out of the trash can – they had Copenhagen on them!

Tunch was such a good person too. When I was coaching with the Jets the game was postponed due to a Nor’easter. The snow was unbelievable. Well, I had this thing, I’d practice in a t-shirt and shorts no matter what the weather was, to show our toughness. Well, Tunch was doing the commentary for the game and he saw me and asked me “Hey John – letting the guns hang?” That was him asking if I was going out in my t-shirt and shorts.

We got that from Webster actually. The offensive line would wear short sleeves no matter the weather to show our toughness.

You were known for that…

Oh yeah. I coached with Romeo Crennel in Cleveland – he is a dear friend of mine. We played the Steelers on Christmas – it was bitter cold. I was working with the Browns players – 7-7’s before the game running through plays in my t-shirt and shorts. I couldn’t even feel my ears. When Porter and I were in Arizona together he laughed at me about that. He told me the team would talk about “That nutbag” who was on the field in a t-shirt and shorts from the Cleveland game!

What stands out most to you about the Steelers now?

I look at San Diego – they went from Brees to Rivers to Herbert now. But look at center for the Steelers. They went from Mansfield to Webster to Dawson, a small hiccup then Pouncey. A bunch of legends. Pouncey should be in the Hall of Fame too. I worked with him too. He was the real deal.  That center position in Pittsburgh is a legacy.

Any other thoughts on the team?

I just feel like Steelers Nation is the real deal. When I was with Arizona and we played them in the Super Bowl, it seemed like we were playing at Three Rivers at first. When we’d go out – we were big guys and people knew a lot of us lived at the Allegheny Center. So when they’d see a big guy near there they’d welcome us with open arms.

At the Super Bowl. I think at first the fans were 60% Steelers fans, 25% Arizona fans and 15% were just happy to be there.  By the end I think it was 60%-40%. But the Steelers fans were so loud. It’s something that as a player and coach, the fans don’t always know it, but it’s really helpful. They can flip any stadium.

Oh and one other thing. I just wanted to bring up Dick Haley. What he brought to the NFL and the Steelers as an ex-player doesn’t get talked about enough. He was very instrumental in the four Super Bowls – it could have been six! He was incredible with understanding personnel and with his insight on players. He always knew what the Steelers needed in players. And with the Jets, he and Parcells were like McCartney and Lennon together.  He definitely deserves more recognition.

Steelers Takeaways fundraising drive!

Help keep these free interviews coming! If you can, please donate as little (or as much!) as you like by contributing to Steelers Takeaways here:

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/pittsburghsports

Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades.  To order, just click on the book: