First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to lately?
Well, I retired in 2017. We built our home here in Florida in 2017. I did some work with Pro Football Focus and helped them early on with their player evaluations – working on the film evaluation to see if I see things the same way they did.
We lost our home a few years ago to a forest fire – we lost everything from our 42 years of marriage – game balls, pictures, mementos…. But we rebuilt the house and moved back in 2021. Now we’re enjoying being retired. We go to the beach often, I do some fundraisers, and spend time with my wife and going to the beach. My kids come down with our grandkids and we enjoy that time too.
What brought you to Pittsburgh in 1991?
I have great respect for the organization. I started in Seattle but really liked the coaches in Pittsburgh. I knew Tim Lewis and John Mitchell – just seeing them and talking to them at the combines. We were friends after spending time and getting beers together.
So they brought me in and just asked me to help the receivers improve on the basic things. Blocking, being more disciplined in their routes, that sort of thing. We had a lot of talent and he just wanted me to work with the guys.
It was a young receiver group for the most part – how do you work with personality-laden receiver groups like that? I remember speaking to Troy Edwards about how he didn’t take coaching as seriously as he should have.
Troy had a lot of talent – he just didn’t apply himself like he could have.
You just have to emphasize to younger players the team aspect of the game. No one person in the room is better or more important than another. You all have to do your job – and if you don’t get a ball thrown your way one game it can be frustrating, but you contribute in other ways to the team, like blocking.
Did you have any input on the game planning then?
It was always open for us to speak our mind and suggest things that would work. I was a coordinator for years and the hardest part of the job is to take all of those good ideas and try to fit them all in. They are usually all creative but you only have so many slots. So you try and find those slots later for those good ideas. As a position coach I understand – you make your suggestions but they decide what fits.
How was that Steelers receiver room to work with?
I liked them all. Hines was one of my favorite players to work with of all time. He was so competitive and a great team player and personality.
Troy and Plaxico were young – they were still trying to figure things out. I remember when Plaxico caught an in-cut and ran 40 yards then slipped and fell and dropped the ball. He was thinking it was like college. I remember Bill running over to me asking me what the Hell he was doing, telling me I needed to explain the rules to him!
What is the toughest thing to teach the young receivers?
The speed of the game – and the discipline you need to have. You can’t get away with sloppy routes in the NFL – the guy across from you is better than who you faced in college. The importance of discipline has to be stressed – an out route at 12 yards has to be at 12 yards – the quarterback has less time to throw and defenders get there faster so timing is essential.
Teaching precision really is key. You’re facing the best of the best – the weakest cornerback in the NFL is still better than most of the cornerbacks they face in college. In the NFL timing and precision has to be fine-tuned
How did you incorporate Kordell into that receivers group?
I spent extra time with him. I’d let the other guys go after practice and spend extra time with him. We’d cover specific plays we had for him – not the whole playbook. It was hard for him to be put in that position – I had to boost him up and stress that he was so talented that we needed him to be a team player to get the most out of his ability.
What are some of the highlights of your time there?
The last game at Three Rivers was a highlight. I had pictures of me with the guys, with the fireworks going off – those were some of the things I lost in the fire.
And the personalities and friendships. It all comes down to the personalities. The coaches and players were all fun guys to be around.
And I remember Hines Ward chasing the Jets’ Victor Green around the field in a game. He was on him all game and after the game Green’s girlfriend came onto the bus to yell at Hines. Hines was such a great blocker – he was thick-boned and powerful and those two got into it. He just have said something to Hines because Hines made the choice to look him up every play. I watched the film and Hines got him a number of times that game.
As soon as Green’s girlfriend left the bus everyone was laughing and talking ..”If my wife did that…” It was very funny.
What caused you to leave the Steelers after the ’92 season?
Dick LeBeau took the head coaching job in Cincinnati and asked me to be his offensive coordinator there It was a pretty easy decision when he asked me to be the coordinator.
How much of an advantage is it to go against the team you used to coach?
I think just knowing the players’ weaknesses. I knew the 3-4 having to practice against it, and then not a lot of teams were running the 3-4. So it helped knowing how to protect against some of the blitz schemes. I felt comfortable identifying what I saw on film. Having blocked against the 3-4 in practice we knew how to protect and beat some of those blitzes.
As a former coordinator, how do you prepare a young offense and quarterback for the NFL? We see this issue in Pittsburgh now. How do you keep it simple enough yet not too easy for defenses to stop?
When we drafted Carson Palmer we had Jon Kitna. Palmer didn’t play his rookie season. We gave him a year to process and practice, and to understand the situational things that come up and how to handle them.
If you have a capable person, sitting a rookie is the best thing. Carson gained a lot of knowledge sitting and learning the offense and seeing situations and how to deal with them. In his second year he was able to come in with some experience.
Even the length of the NFL season is rough for rookies. It’s longer than college and rookies often hit that rookie wall. Those things you’d like to give them a chance to learn that first year.
With Pickett, he came in, what, five or six games into the season? Even then that gave him time to gain some knowledge. You have to be a hard worker and great studier. As a coach you trim the gameplan down and do only the things he feels comfortable with at first.
What did you enjoy most about coaching?
Game days and the comradery. The comradery is the thing I miss the most when I retired. I worked with the same age group – guys in their 20’s and 30’s. As I got older they kept me young. I had some players I loved being there with. Jerome Bettis – I admired him as a man. Hines, Bruener….Mark lived two doors down from me – I played for Washington State and he played for Washington so we had some good back and forths.
What do you think of the way the NFL has changed today?
There’s so much more talent. The new gloves the receivers use – I think some of the spectacular catches would be caught today if not for the way the gloves are made now. It’s like the effect Stickum had except that stuff was a mess – it got everywhere and you couldn’t get it off. Not to take anything away from the accomplishments of today’s receivers – they are great players – but I don’t think many of the one-handed catches wouldn’t be made if they were catching them barehanded.
I watch football today – it’s an exciting brand of football. And there are a lot of good young quarterbacks now. Over my 22 years as an NFL coach I can’t remember that many good young quarterbacks all playing at the same time. It’s exciting and why the NFL is still the most popular game in the world.
And the coaching. Watching Andy Reid and his staff – some of this stuff is so innovative. I’m seeing it throughout the league – these offenses are really stressing defenses now. Doing work for Pro Football Focus I would watch six games over two days and came to see some really creative things. Sean McVay with the Rams….it’s getting really good. My father played for 14 years and I used to be a ballboy for the Packers. The difference between the players then and now is huge. Guys then – some had to have other jobs. Guys today make so much money they can train all year.
How important is deception to you as an offensive coach?
You can be deceptive but you still need good players. I had a coach who always said “It’s our guys versus their guys.” You can scheme teams with less talent to win but can you do it over a season consistently? I don’t see teams making it to the playoffs without top level talent. You can fool people for a few games but without talent you can’t sustain it.
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