List of Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches explained

The Pittsburgh Steelers franchise has had 16 head coaches throughout its history. Founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates in,[1] the name was changed to the Steelers prior to the season to celebrate the city's heritage of producing steel.[2] Joe Bach served two separate terms as head coach and Walt Kiesling served three separate terms. During the and seasons, due to the number of players who fought in World War II, the Steelers combined their team with Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively.[2] During these seasons, Kiesling shared coaching duties with Greasy Neale and Phil Handler,[3] who have not been included within this list.

Struggling for much of the franchise's early years, the team's first season with more wins than losses was coached by Jock Sutherland in .[2] In, under Sutherland, the Steelers played their first playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.[2] Ten of the 16 head coaches spent their entire professional coaching careers with the franchise, including Kiesling, John McNally, and Chuck Noll, who have also been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[4] One of only four men to coach the same team for 23 years, Noll retired in .[2] Bill Cowher, who was Noll's replacement, coached the Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl victory in Super Bowl XL (2005) and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2020. The Steelers' sixth Super Bowl win came in Super Bowl XLIII (2008) under current head coach Mike Tomlin,[2] who was hired to replace the retiring Cowher in 2007.[5] [6] As of 2023, the Steelers have had only three head coaches in the last 55 years.

List of head coaches

Number of coaches[7]
GCGames Coached
WWins
LLoses
TTies
Win%Winning percentage
†Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach
‡Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
^Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the NFL Commissioner
Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Steelers
+Highest winning percentage in franchise history

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2023 NFL season.

ImageNameTermRegular seasonPlayoffsAwardsRef./
Notes
GCWLTWin%GCWLWin%
Pittsburgh Pirates
1Forrest Douds11362.333—| | | ||[8] |-|2||style="background-color:#ddffdd"|Luby DiMeolo*|style="background-color:#ddffdd"|*|12|2|10| 0|.167|—[9]
3Joe Bach–*2410140.416—| | | ||[10] |-|4||style="background-color:#E4D00A"|John McNally ‡*|style="background-color:#ddffdd"|–*|25|6|19| 0|.240|—[11]
5Walt Kiesling ‡*–*193133—| | | ||[12] [13] |-|align="center" colspan="19" style=";" | Pittsburgh Steelers|-|6||style="background-color:#D8BFD8"|Bert Bell ^||2|0|2| 0|.000|—[14]
7Aldo Donelli5050.000—| | | ||[15] |-|-|–Walt Kiesling ‡*–*3513202—| | | || |-|8||style="background-color:#ddffdd"| Jim Leonard*|style="background-color:#ddffdd"|*|10|2|8|0|.200|—[16]
9Jock Sutherland–231391.591101.000[17]
10John Michelosen–*4820262.435—| | | ||[18] |-|–Joe Bach–*2411130.485—| | | |||-|–Walt Kiesling ‡*–*3614220—| | | | | |-|11||Buddy Parker|–|104|51|47|6|.520|—| | | ||[19] |-|12||Mike Nixon||14|2|12|0|.143|—| | | ||[20] |-|13||Bill Austin|–|42|11|28|3|.282|—[21]
14Chuck Noll †*–*3421931481.56624168.667UPI AFC Coach of the Year (1972)
Maxwell Football Club NFL Coach of the Year (1989)		[22]
15Bill Cowher†*–*240149901.62321129.571AP NFL Coach of the Year (1992)
Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1992)
Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (2004)[23] 		[24]
16Mike Tomlin+*–present*2751731002.63318810Motorola NFL Coach of the Year (2008)[25] [26]

Footnotes

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NFL history 1933. NFL.com. April 27, 2008. May 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200510223235/http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1931-1940#1933. live.
  2. Web site: Steelers' History . April 27, 2008 . Pittsburgh Steelers . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080528074040/http://news.steelers.com/MediaContent/2007/08/22/05/Steelers_History_80311.pdf . May 28, 2008 .
  3. Web site: Walt Kiesling. May 5, 2008. ProFootballhof.com. May 5, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080505054645/http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=114. live.
  4. Web site: Hall of Famers by Franchise . April 27, 2008 . ProFootballHOF.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080412001112/http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/teams.html . April 12, 2008 . dead .
  5. Steelers Name Mike Tomlin the 16th Head Coach in Team History. . Pittsburgh Steelers. January 23, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070125160843/http://news.steelers.com/article/73526/. January 25, 2007 . July 14, 2016.
  6. News: Gerry. Dulac. Tomlin, 34, is NFL's rising coaching star. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 18, 2007. April 27, 2008. May 1, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070501125446/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07018/754788-66.stm. live.
  7. A running total of the number of coaches of the Steelers. Thus any coach who has two separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
  8. Web site: Jap Doud Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. February 23, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080223222553/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/DoudJa0.htm. live.
  9. Web site: Luby DiMeolo Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. February 23, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080223222547/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/DiMeLu0.htm. live.
  10. Web site: Joe Bach Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. March 11, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080311030126/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/BachJo0.htm. live.
  11. Web site: Johnny McNally Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. February 23, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080223222537/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/BlooJo0.htm. live.
  12. Web site: Walt Kiesling Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. August 18, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130818083438/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/KiesWa0.htm. live.
  13. Web site: Hall of Famers by position. Pro Football Hall of Fame. August 2, 2012. July 1, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120701161511/http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/positions.aspx. live.
  14. Web site: Bert Bell Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. March 3, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080303235621/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/BellBe0.htm. live.
  15. Web site: Aldo Donelli Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. January 23, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160123014209/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/DoneAl0.htm. live.
  16. Web site: Jim Leonard Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. February 23, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080223222558/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/LeonJi0.htm. live.
  17. Web site: Jock Sutherland Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. February 21, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080221045428/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/SuthJo0.htm. live.
  18. Web site: John Michelosen Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. March 11, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080311030131/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/MichJo0.htm. live.
  19. Web site: Buddy Parker Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. March 11, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080311030136/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/ParkRa0.htm. live.
  20. Web site: Mike Nixon Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. February 19, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080219035007/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/NixoMi0.htm. live.
  21. Web site: Bill Austin Coaching Record . Pro Football Reference . March 20, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120902210603/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/AustBi0.htm . September 2, 2012 .
  22. Web site: Chuck Noll Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. March 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210321111212/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/NollCh0.htm. live.
  23. Web site: NFL Coach of the Year Award . April 27, 2008 . HickokSports.com . dead . https://archive.today/20121205094433/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/nflcoy.shtml . December 5, 2012 .
  24. Web site: Bill Cowher Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. March 20, 2008. December 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091053/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/CowhBi0.htm. live.
  25. News: Fans pick Tomlin as NFL coach of the year. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. January 29, 2009. January 30, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090201061809/http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_609359.html. February 1, 2009. dmy-all.
  26. Web site: Mike Tomlin Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. January 5, 2021. January 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210101232006/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/TomlMi0.htm. live.

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