First, you’ve been the defensive backs coach for Green Bay for a number of years now. Can you tell us how you got started there?
I played for Dom Capers in Houston and he told me then I should coach when I was done playing. After I retired I took a couple of years off then in 2011 I took advantage of an internship opportunity at Green Bay, The next year a new entry level position opened up and I got my feet wet there.
Now, I’m at Carolina, coaching their secondary.
Former Steeler Darren Perry had been there at Green Bay for a while, Was it good to work with Darren?
It was really good to work with someone you know. Someone you see on gamedays and knew and could relate to the same things – the same way. I was a rookie in Pittsburgh and he was a veteran then. We learned how to do things the right way under Tim Lewis in Pittsburgh. He was a really good leader. In fact, a lot of his former players are now coaches.
Who were some of the coaches that influenced you and what are some of the lessons that helped shape how you coach today?
The thing is, just having Bill Cowher as a coach, I think that, more than anything from a leadership point of view, really helped me. He taught coaches to be honest and open with players. No matter how tough the conversation. Hard questions may have hard answers, but you have to be honest wth them. You can’t sugercoat it. You can’t forget that these are men.
In college I had Rod Marinelli, Hue Jackson, Ron English and more – these are guys who have done a lot in this league. They preached technique – you win with technique. That’s something I believe in and hold players too.
Your career started in Pittsburgh. Were you surprised they drafted you – and how did you feel about going to Pittsburgh?
When I was drafted I was excited as anyone. But to go to a winning tradition and physical team, with veterans like LeVon Kirkland and Jerome Bettis was incredible.
Did they help you more on the field, or with off the field stuff?
Off the field – that’s exactly what it was. It was about what not to do. Not to spend too much money. Where to get your suits where they won’t take advantage of you. They’d tell you to invest your money. About having fun but getting rest. They basically held my hand.
It wasn’t all about watching tape – it was about taking care of your body and having fun, but getting rest. A lot of players carried their off-felid stress on to the field.
As a coach, do you find the players you see entering the game today to be very different from the guys you played with? How does that affect your coaching approach?
Definitely. They are definitely different types of players now. It’s harder for a guy like myself. These guys are more educated – they understand better how to develop their bodies and how the game affects them. It’s not a bad thing.
They also understand their brand more too. Guys practice their own brand now. Our only brand was the team. They have an individual brand as well.
Does that make it harder to work with them as a coach?
All you can do is respect it. They do have their own brand and as long as they market themselves so that’s it’s limited to off-the-field, then they should take advantage of it. People say they want guys that love the game. I don’t know. I don’t rely on them loving the game. I just want them to compete.
Inside the white lines it’s all about the team. Outside the lines, they have a lot of other things going on. As long as they don’t put the team in harm’s way, I’m ok and understand it.
As a young player on that Steelers team, was it frustrating fighting for playing time with those vets?
That’s part of it, but you want it to be a competitive environment. They just paid Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington and drafted Deshea Townsend. We split time in the nickel and I started in the dime. But I got hurt my fourth game as a rookie – I broke my arm. I didn’t get reps anymore. I missed five weeks and didn’t get back on the 46 until the 16th game of the season. As a coach you want that problem of having a talented roster. Someone had to miss time and unfortunately that was me.
You moved from corner to safety during your career, How hard was that transition for you?
The physicality playing safety needed made it even easier for me, to be honest. It helped keep me in the league. Your speed diminishes over time. In Houston, we had a ton of injuries and it forced it to happen. It was in a preseason game and I knew the 3-4 scheme so they asked me if I could get us out of the game playing safety and I said yes. And I did it.
What are some of your best memories of your time in Pittsburgh?
The locker room comradery. Things like the rookie shows and hazing – it was all in good fun. It was a rite of passage – just little things. Just making fun of each other. Pittsburgh brought unity. It lets us all say “Once a Steeler always a Steeler”. It’s a brotherhood.
I remember walking out of the tunnels and thinking we were the toughest team. We were really good on defense. But even our offense was tough with Hines, Jerome, Faneca, Lester, Kreider and Bruener. Just how physical we were. We prided ourselves in that. Those matchups versus Baltimore were just so physical. It was just a fun team to play on.
Looking at the league today, especially as a defensive backs coach, how frustrating is it with the new passing-game focused rules?
It is frustrating. But you have to understand the league is in the entertainment business. They want a good product for people to watch, and that means points.
But still, if you play with good technique and keep your head out of the game, you have a chance. It is hard sometimes when a receiver runs into you with their head down protecting themselves and you have an unavoidable hit to the head. I hate to see some of those fines. But you just have to deal with it. You don’t want guys slowing up. I tell guys never try to injure anyone – make officials officiate a normal tackle, where you wrap the player up, and hope you don’t get on the bad end of a call.
Would you rather play or coach?
Oh you always have more fun playing the game. Coaching is the closest thing to it. These are guys that are elite and special. They are one of 32 starters in the world. That is special. I never like hearing people say this or that guy can’t play. They are one of 32 or one of 64 starters. They are elite. So quit saying they can’t play. It doesn’t get more elite than that.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
