The Pittsburgh Steelers’ playbook to success

There is something behind the Pittsburgh Steelers’ long-term success. Something we like to call, “The Playbook.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers typically draft late because of their continuing success year in and year out which means, talent, scheme and communication have become a few of the pillars that have contributed to the overall Black n Gold lasting achievements.

When you are viewed as one of the most stable, successful and well respected National Football League franchises; others around the league wonder what attributes to the team’s long-term success. Good drafting? Good Coaching? Good Organization? Yes, yes, and yes. But it’s really the Steelers Playbook. Not a playbook with the “X” and “O”s per se, but the combination of the talent (scouting department), schemes (the coaching staff) and the communications (both on and off the field) that make the real difference.

Scouting – The Players

Dating back to the late sixties and early seventies when the teams scouting department was limited in resources as well as in its reach; the team had to be creative in finding the talent that could change the desperate plight of losing that the team had endured for over thirty plus years.

Getting film on anyone was somewhat of an exclusive because the film was never shared with their contemporaries. The hiring of Bill Nun Jr. from the Pittsburgh Courier as the first African American appointed to a front office position proved to be a step in the right direction.

Bill Nunn had a great reputation for knowing football talent and was instrumental in shaping the early championship teams. He would scour the small African American schools for players that were often overlooked by most teams. The headliners that he brought to the team are some of the who’s who of the organization beginning with Mean Joe Green, L.C. Greenwood, Mel Blount, John Stallworth and Donnie Shell just to name a few.

Those scouting departments set the tone for player evaluation for future scouting by using the draft as the primary vehicle in acquiring talent.  Today’s scouting is much more advanced obviously as a result of electronics, analytics and larger staffs which are capable of leaving no stone unturned nor any player undiscovered.

Even with a more defined selection process, for every Rod Woodson there is an Antwon Blake or for every Greg Lloyd, there is a Jarvis Jones. However, the draft is a part of the Playbook and a pillar from which the team talent is built upon!