Welcome to Steelers Takeaways!

First, can you tell us how you got started in speed painting and what exactly speed painting is?

I started in college. I played football in college and was looking for other things to do besides playing football and studying in a small school town in Kentucky. Drawing was always a hobby for me. I started hanging out with some local musicians and painted while they did their thing. It turned into speed painting – it just became this weird thing. It was like a performance art thing keeping up with them.

Over time, it took off. I saw speed painting before but I never thought to do it myself. I looked it up on Youtube to learn how, like everyone does these days. I worked at it every day – it was a natural growth. I got better at it over time and found my own style.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh Artist Cody Sabol”

First, coming off a couple of wins, well-rested and Alex Smith playing good football, you feel good about Monday’s game – especially with the Steelers being less rested?

The rest is a good thing but I think it would be much different if the game were being played Sunday instead of Monday. I watched the Baltimore game Wednesday – I think the score made the game look closer than it was.

Pittsburgh is coached extremely well – they are a lot more talented than Washington in just about every area. So while the rest is one area you can look at and draw a conclusion that it’s a big advantage for Washington, I think the pedigree and leadership in Pittsburgh makes it less of a difference-maker. I would like to think it would – maybe if it were the Lions – but not with the Steelers. They do things right – Tomlin will have them ready for Washington.

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First, can you tell us what you’ve done with yourself after football?

I started a business in 1974- while I was still playing. My wife’s uncle had a sporting goods business and he talked to me about how good of an opportunity it was and thought it would be good for me. So I had an Athlete’s Foot franchise store – I did that for 20-to-25 years before I sold it.

I got my MBA at Miami too – I tried to be prepared for things in life before they came up – I knew I couldn’t play forever. And no one made big money then – I made an average of $40,000 over my 11-year career.

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First, can you talk about how you got into coaching and what you enjoy about it?

Oh wow – this can be the whole interview!

I turned down so many coaching opportunities when I retired. A lot of my former NFL coaches wanted me to fast-track to a coaching or GM position – they waned me to jump right into it. But I had three young girls at the time – it wasn’t a lifestyle I waned for me and my family.

I got college coaching job offers later too. They kept coming up but I never, ever even bit on those. My wife and I talked though. I was made to coach – I knew that. Heck, the back-half of my career I was coaching a lot – and I was around youth sports with my daughters who were on sports scholarships. High school coaching felt like a nice landing spot.

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First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since your time n the NFL?

Now, I have a mouthguard company – Vane Mouthguards . The mouthguards have two sensors than can tell by the g-force of a hit whether a possible concussion occurred for kids playing contact sports.  It’s a cool technology we’ve implemented to help kids and parents of kids who play contact sports get a sense of things and to give them some ease of mind when they are worried about concussions.

I also do drug and alcohol talks for kids. I try to reach kids in the Michigan area from all backgrounds. I try y give them some positive outlooks on life. It’s surprising how many kids don’t have positive views on their outlook on life.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Greg Jones, Linebacker, Jaguars”

First, can you let me know how you got into coaching?

Well it started as my career as a player was ending. It was something I knew I probably wanted to do  – but I figured it would end up being at the middle school level or something. I volunteered coaching at my old high school for a year or so, then I was blessed to be offered a coaching position at Alabama State and have been here since.

Who are some of the coaches that you patterned your coaching style after, and why?

Three coaches really impacted my style. Coach Markum at Alabama State – he had a hard mindset and liked to have guys do a lot of running – a lot of conditioning. And big on discipline.

Then Tom Coughlin.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Jaguars Receiver/Return Specialist Reggie Barlow”