First, can you let us know what you’re doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?
Currently, I’m a substitute teacher as well as a high school football coach for Linfield High School. I also coached my son’s little league football team. He asked if he could play football and I said yes, but only if I coached him. I wanted to make sure he learned correctly – the right way.
Any of the coaches you played under help shape the way you coach today?
It’s funny you should ask – Lou Holtz, not that I’m as good of a coach as he was. He helped me as far as doing the right thing on the field – everyone knowing their responsibilities and having the right discipline.
Also, as funny as it may sound, my coach when I was eight years old. He helped show me the fundamentals you need to play the game too. Both were good – both did that for me.
You played for the Jaguars before the Steelers – why did you join the Steelers in free agency?
The Steelers were my favorite team when I was little. They were a hard-nosed team – tough-minded, and I liked that. When I was in Jacksonville and we played Pittsburgh, I looked forward to those games. It was always a hard-hitting game and I liked the way they played the game. Those were exciting games for me.
And you had success against the Steelers as a Jaguar – why was that?
The Steelers were consistent. We knew what they wanted to do. Their attitude was that, this is what we are getting to do, so go ahead and try and beat us. They’d keep Kordell in the pocket – we loved that. When they let him run around, he was so much more effective and dangerous. We loved it when they tried to keep him in the pocket.
Why do you think they did that?
They tried to make him a pocket passer, instead of a guy who could pass and run the ball. He was an incredible dual threat when they let him be. But I think that’s who the Steelers were. They wanted to do that one thing well and force you to beat them doing it.
Anyone help you adjust to the team and city when you got to Pittsburgh?
I had a good buddy on the team in Jerome Bettis. We were friends – and playing against the Steelers, I got to know some of them well, especially when we got together for different events in the offseason.
LeVon Kirkland – he helped me the most – he helped me tremendously. I’m not sure he even realizes how much he helped me really.
The contract when I signed with Pittsburgh – it was all business. They called me. Those games we played against each other, they probably wanted me because of those games. It was a win-win for me and the Steelers.
What was different about playing for the Steelers?
I loved the way they treated me. They treated players like professionals. Like NFL players. Playing under Tom Coughlin was different. In Pittsburgh there was a different style. A different vibe. It was more relaxed – a more professional atmosphere. If you did your job, it was all good. If not, you were out of there. That’s the way it should be as a professional.
It was a diverse team. We all enjoyed being treated like professionals, and that started with Bill Cowher, and all acted accordingly because of him.
What made him different?
He came to you from a player’s standpoint – as a former player. He’d talk to you like a person – and he’d just come up to you doing warmups and start talking to you. It can be all business, but as a coach you can still form relationships with your players too. You can be a coach and still show your players you care. That’s the togetherness they were able to have there – because of that.
How hard was the defense to adjust to for you?
Whoah. It was a tough adjustment. In Jacksonville it was more of a read and attack type of defense. The Steelers were more of a reactionary defense – see and react. I caught on later. In Jacksonville the free safety and strong safety were kind of the same – they did the same things and switched off. In Pittsburgh the free safety was the free safety and the strong safety was the strong safety. I enjoyed playing in a reactive style of defense but it took time to get used too. I had to do a lot of film study – I watched a lot of film of past Steelers safeties to learn how they approached the defense and had success.
You were there for one-year – what happened after that?
I had my knee scoped and had in drained 10 times during the season. No one knew that – I didn’t talk about it to the media. But they released me after that.
Was it frustrating, knowing your play was being scrutinized by fans and media that had no idea what was behind your play?
It was frustrating – you play the game and what goes on with the players stays in the locker room. They say there are three different worlds for NFL players. Players and their communication with other players. Players and their relationships with coaches. And players and their relationships with the rest of the world – fans and media.
Any thoughts on the way the game is played and regulated now?
Oh it’s a cupcake game now. It’s softer now.
And the coach-player relationship has changed now. The way players talk to coaches – the way they cuss and talk to them – I never experienced any of that. It was always under your breath. I never saw it like it is now – it was never part of the game before.
I think society today – I see it as a teacher – it’s changed. There’s a different type of attitude now with young athletes. We would listen to coaches when they told us how they wanted us to do things. Now many kids don’t listen as much, and they dismiss what they hear and refuse to do what they are asked to do. It’s tougher for coaches. I know players need more say-so with their careers, but I think their approach is too drastic.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
