First, congratulations on your retirement! Can you talk about what drove you to that decision at such a young age, and what’s next for you?
Well, I am young I guess, and I’m mostly healthy from my playing days. But I’ve been in the league for over 33 years as a player and a coach. I have three young grandchildren all that live within a five mile radius of me. That’s the first time I’ve had all of my family close to one another. Before my sons and their families would be in different cities, and that wore on me.
I wanted to be able to be with them and do things with them while I was still healthy.
As for wat’s next, there’s nothing big ahead of me. I just want to spend time with my wife and family and travel. I guess if we had a hobby travel would be it – that’s the biggest thing we have going.
Stepping back – tell us why you signed as a player with the Steelers in free agency – what drove that decision?
It’s interesting. As a kid growing up I always loved the Steelers – I’m not sure why. Maybe because I saw the Immaculate Reception and got fascinated by them then, I don’t know. Even when I was in the NFL. So when Plan B free agency hit in 1989, teams could only protect 37 players – the rest were free to negotiate deals with other teams. I was coming off my seventh knee surgery – I wasn’t getting many calls. I told my agent there was just one team I was interested in reaching out to – and that was the Steelers. I had never even been in the city before.
So, Tom Donohoe was a scout there then and he picked me up and we had lunch and threw come footballs around. The turf was up at the stadium so there wasn’t even a practice field to work out on. I’m not sure what happened, but they came out of there feeling good about my ability to start at tight end for them and I jumped on the opportunity.
I have to admit, even thought I’ve played and coached in different places, I still bleed Black and Gold.
You had great coaches there like, of course, Noll, Kolb, Blackledge, Painter – how did they influence you as a player?
Jon Kolb was the tight ends coach and he taught me a lot about blocking. Minnesota, where I had come from, was more of a finesse team. Teams under Noll were more physical and Jon taught me how to block and have that physical mindset. I figured their way was the right way to do things – they had won four Super Bowls, and I just came from a team that lost four.
And then , just a few years later, you came back as the Steelers Tight Ends Coach. How did that come about?
I asked Cowher when I was about to retire as a player if I could come back the next season and take on some of Jon’s roles – he had weight room and quality control responsibilities then. But Cowher didn’t think I could flip from a player to a coach like that. I didn’t agree but I understood.
I was fortunate then that Sam Wyche took a chance on me in Tampa Bay – that was the only opportunity I had then. I had no other options. And when the tight end coaching job chance came up in Pittsburgh, Tom Donohoe called me for the job.
I was fortunate to have spoken with Same shortly before he passed – it was a great conversation.
Sam was a big influence on my career and thinking about how he just passed away, it probably did influence my decision to retire while I am still healthy. I’m just happy I was able to pay it forward with Sam – he ended up being my quarterback coach when I was coaching in Buffalo.
Who influenced your coaching style most and how?
Chuck Noll. I was fortunate to work and play for guys like Grant, Walsh and Noll. But Chuck was the greatest influence on me because he showed me how to go about things not just as a player, but as a man – on and off the field. I’ve carried that influence throughout my career.
One aspect of your coaching style is the infamous “exotic smashmouth” style of offense…?
Yeah, you know, the Pittsburgh media actually came up with that – not me! But I did like to implement a physical style of offense with decisions to use some gadget plays- or as we called them, special plays – to attack a defense. We had guys like Hines Ward, Antwaan Randel El and Kordell Stewart. We had the players to do that with, so I was very fortunate to have those kinds of players. I didn’t have that on every team I coached.
I spoke to Randel El and he said you were great in getting input from players on plays and gameplans. How important was that for you and how much input or direction did you get from Cowher on the offense?
I always liked to listen to input from players if they had something. On special plays or on the gameplan in general. I didn’t always use all of their suggestions, but I think they felt comfortable knowing I would listen to them.
As far as Cowher, I would present the gameplan to him on Tuesdays after we implemented it on offense. Bill was more of a defensive coach but he always knew what we were doing and the gameplan always had his stamp of approval on it. And if he wanted to have something specific included in the plan he’d let me know. In terms of calling the game on Sundays, that was me.
What is a perfect gameplan to you?
Balance. Establish the run and have a balanced attack on first and second downs. And on third downs to be successful. But I looked for balance in passing and running the football. Every playcall was to win a game – it wasn’t to feed stats or players. And no matter how a game went, it always seemed to come out balanced in terms of the playcalling.
I spoke with wide receiver Chris Doering who said he felt you brought him into Pittsburgh because of his physical play and work ethic. What were the ideal traits of a player on your offenses?
Toughness was a part of it for sure. I wanted guys that played with great effort and physicality. If you didn’t we weren’t going to get along well. That was the makeup of the guys we wanted to surround ourselves with and when we did we had success in what we’d do.
I told the guys – I wasn’t a yeller or a screamer. But if you’re not playing hard you’re going to see my jugular. They knew upfront what to expect from me.
What players typified that approach best to you?
Hines Ward – he was a self-made player and should be in the Hall of Fame. I’m not trying to take credit for him here, but this is a story about him. When I first took over as offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, I explained to him that we were going to run the ball more than he was used too. He just looked at me – that’s not something a receiver likes to hear. But I said to him, if we’re balanced and run the ball more, we’ll get more first downs. If we get more first downs, we’ll throw the ball more, and if we throw the ball more, you’ll catch more passes. But if we don’t do the first thing, we couldn’t accomplish the last thing.
I think he was skeptical at first. But that season we were number one in rushing the NFL and he broke Lynn Swann’s receptions record. So he saw that it did equate to that. That if he became that guy who blocked in the run game, that it would make a big difference for him in the passing game as well.
Lastly – as a coach who appreciated physical football, do you like the direction the NFL is head now?
I think for some of the teams, I do. I still see physical play as a big part of teams’ success and running the football is still as big as it’s ever been. Not everyone gets that, but for everyone that says, but, look at Brady – well, the reality is his offense was in the top five in rush attempts for years and always in the Super Bowl running.
So well it may feel like the NFL is going in a different direction, it’s still the teams running the ball and playing physical football that are finding the most success.
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