The Pittsburgh Steelers’ playbook to success

Schemes – The Coaching

Chuck Noll

The organization first struck gold with the hiring of Coach Chuck Noll even if they did consider Coach Joe Paterno from Penn State initially. Coach Noll came in with a no-nonsense approach yet, more as a teacher, but it took the team three years to realize a winning record under his regime. But he knew how to build a team, man did he ever, from his first pick of Mean Joe Green in 1969, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount in1970, Jack Ham in1971 to Franco Harris in 1972 (We don’t have to mention the 1974 draft class that was legendary in its own right). All Hall of Famers.

The Coaching Staff was just as legendary under Coach Noll with names like Bud Carson and George Perle’s defense, Dan Radakovich and Rollie Dotsch offensive line, Dick Walker and Tony Dungy with the DB’s and Lionel Taylor WR Coach. The Steel Curtain Defense ran a 4-3 scheme (four down linemen and three linebackers) with Joe Green lining up in the “gap” between the guard and center on an angle. This made him almost impossible to block as Ernie “Fats Holmes helped push the middle of the offense while allowing “ends” L.C. Greenwood and Dwight “Mad Dog” White “set the edge” or to constantly have a path to the quarterback.

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The Linebackers of Ham, Lambert and Russell had free reign to either rush or drop into coverage. Blount, Wagner, Edwards and Thomas shut down passing games with regularity.

Coach Nolls basic offense was powered by Franco and Rocky through a limited amount of plays in which they ran to perfection. “The Trap – Draw”. They would pull either guard catching a lineman coming through the line and block him which permitted the running backs to go right through the hole he left open that was as wide as a tunnel. Occasionally, Randy Grossman, the T.E. would catch a pass to keep the defense honest, but after the 1974 draft, the team’s aerial connections to Swann and Stallworth fueled most of the offensive attacks. They out-schemed their opponents with the coaching and talent assembled under the Steelers playbook. Winning four Super Bowl Rings to prove it.

Bill Cower

As stoic and reserved as Coach Noll was, his replacement was even fierier. Bill Cower brought “Cower Power” on the scene following in the tradition of the mean, nasty and intimidating defenses with fierce sets of linebackers named Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Joey Porter, James Harrison, James Farrior, Jason Gildan and Levon Kirkland.

That was the strength of Coach Cower’s defenses over the years with a strong cast in the secondary lead by Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake and Troy Polamalu who were the mainstays in those Defensive Backfields. Dermontti Dawson and Alan Faneca anchored the offensive lines and “Fast” Willie Parker and Jerome Bettis made the “Bus” go round and round.

Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller roamed and controlled the airways. Ben Roethlisberger was acquired through the draft on Coach Cowers watch from a Mid- American School, not a traditional powerhouse conference.

Cower ran power football with a lot of exotic offensive sets which often caught the defenses off-guard. But it was his 3 – 4 (three down linemen and four linebackers) defenses that set the tone for his teams throughout the years. They played a lot of winning football and reached the pinnacle of greatness once for the thumb.

With the drafting of some of the most talented players in team history combined with a top-level coaching staff, the Steelers Playbook was in full effect during Coach Cowers tenure.

Mike Tomlin

The baton was passed to Coach Mike Tomlin who ushered in an era of hi-tech football with the same attention to draft details towards building winning football. Of the most notable draft picks in NFL history, Antonio Brown, the sixth-round pick is a prime example of the talent evaluation that still exists today within the team’s structure. Although a lot of players at the beginning of Coach Tomlin’s tenure were carryovers from the previous regime, the draft has not proven yet to be the bonanza that the other two coaches enjoyed.

Players such as Cameron Heywood, LeVeon Bell, Maurkice Pouncey, Dave DeCastro, LaMarr Woodley, Ryan Shazier, Chris Boswell, Artie Burns, Sean Davis, Lawrence Timmons, T.J. Watt, Stephon Tuitt, and Javon Hargrave were the products of Coach Tomlin’s drafting over the years.

Even though the 2008 season saw the team have the number one defense in the league that lead to Coach Tomlin’s first Super bowl win, Dick LeBeau kept the 3-4 defense in the top ten in the league with exotic blitzes and zone coverage while the offense was beginning to power up.

Four wideout sets became in vogue in a single back formation with an offensive line coached by Mike Munchak that paved the way for a unique running game. Ray Horton, Bruce Arians, Todd Haley were some of the coaches on staff. With the lack of overall Pro Bowl players and possible Hall of Fame players selected through the draft, in addition with the highest turnover of assistant coaches in the league, Coach Tomlin still has never had a losing season.

This is a testament to his reputation as a players coach who is able to effectively communicate with all types of players while establishing a winning culture. That too is a part of the Steelers Playbook.