List of Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coach Bill Cowher during the 2006 season
Coach Bill Cowher during the 2006 season

The Pittsburgh Steelers franchise has had 16 head coaches throughout its history. Founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933,[1] the team later changed their name to the Steelers, to represent 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 1943 and 1944 seasons, due to the amount of players who fought in World War II, the Steelers combined their team with Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively.[2] During these seasons, Steelers' coach Walt 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 1942.[2] In 1947, under Sutherland, the Steelers played their first playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.[2] Twelve of the 16 head coaches spent their entire professional coaching careers with the franchise, including John McNally, Bert Bell, 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 Chuck Noll retired in 1991.[2] Noll is also the only coach in National Football League history to win four Super Bowls.[2] Bill Cowher, Noll's replacement, coached the Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl victory, in 2005.[2] Hired prior to the 2007 season, the Steelers current coach is Mike Tomlin.[5]

Contents

[edit] Coaches

Key
# Number of coaches[6]
GC Games Coached
W Wins
L Loses
T Ties
W–L % Win–Loss percentage
† Spent entire professional head coaching career with Steelers
* Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame


Mike Tomlin coaching a Steelers home game, during the 2007 season
Mike Tomlin coaching a Steelers home game, during the 2007 season
# Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
GC W L T W–L % GC W L
Pittsburgh Pirates
1 Forrest Douds†[7] 1933 11 3 6 2 .333 — — —
2 Luby DiMelio†[8] 1934 12 2 10 — .167 — — —
3 Joe Bach†[9][I] 1935–1936 24 10 14 — .416 — — —
4 John McNally*†[10] 1937–1939 33 7 25 1 .318 — — —
5 Walt Kiesling†[11][II] 1939–1940 22 3 16 3 .136 — — —
Pittsburgh Steelers
6 Bert Bell*†[12] 1941 2 0 2 — .000 — — —
7 Aldo Donelli[13] 1941 5 0 5 — .000 — — —
— Walt Kiesling†[III] 1941–1944 35 13 20 2 .394 — — —
8 Jim Leonard†[14] 1945 10 2 8 0 .200 — — —
9 Jock Sutherland†[15] 1946–1947 23 13 9 1 .591 1 0 1
10 John Michelosen†[16] 1948–1951 48 20 26 2 .435 — — —
— Joe Bach† 1952–1953 24 11 13 — .485 — — —
— Walt Kiesling† 1954–1956 36 14 22 — .388 — — —
11 Buddy Parker[17] 1957–1964 104 51 47 6 .520 — — —
12 Mike Nixon[18] 1965 14 2 12 — .143 — — —
13 Bill Austin[19] 1966–1968 42 11 28 3 .282 — — —
14 Chuck Noll*†[20] 1969–1991 342 193 148 1 .566 24 16 8 UPI AFC Coach of the Year (1972)
Maxwell Football Club NFL Coach of the Year (1989)[21]
15 Bill Cowher†[22] 1992–2006 240 149 90 1 .623 21 12 9 AP NFL Coach of the Year (1992)
Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1992)
Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (2004)[21]
16 Mike Tomlin†[23] 2007–present 16 10 6 — .625 1 0 1

[edit] Footnotes

  • I^ Bach's full coaching record with the Steelers is 48 regular season games coached with a record of 21–27 and a W–L percentage of .438.
  • II^ Kiesling's full coaching record with the Steelers is 90 regular season games coached with a record of 30–55–5 and a W–L percentage of .379.
  • III^ During the 1943 season the Steelers combined with the Philadelphia Eagles to form the "Steagles", Walt Kiesling shared the head coach position with Greasy Neale. During the 1944 season the Steelers combined with the Chicago Cardinals to form "Card-Pitt", Walt Kiesling shared the head coaching position with Phil Handler.


[edit] References

  1. ^ NFL.com. NFL history 1933. NFL.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Steelers' History. Pittsburgh Steelers. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  3. ^ Walt Kiesling. ProFootballhof.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
  4. ^ Hall of Famers by Franchise. ProFootballHOF.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  5. ^ Dulac, Gerry. "Tomlin, 34, is NFL's rising coaching star", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2007-01-18. Retrieved on 2008-04-27. 
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Jap Doud Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  8. ^ Luby DiMeolo Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  9. ^ Joe Bach Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  10. ^ Johnny McNally Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  11. ^ Walt Kiesling Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  12. ^ Bert Bell Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  13. ^ Aldo Donelli Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  14. ^ Jim Leonard Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  15. ^ Jock Sutherland Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  16. ^ John Michelosen Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  17. ^ Buddy Parker Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  18. ^ Mike Nixon Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  19. ^ Bill Austin Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  20. ^ Chuck Noll Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  21. ^ a b NFL Coach of the Year Award. HickokSports.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  22. ^ Bill Cowher Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  23. ^ Mike Tomlin Coaching Record. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Pittsburgh Steelers/Pirates
The Franchise
Stadiums
Culture
Lore
Head Coaches
Douds • DiMelio • Bach • McNally • Kiesling • Bell • Donelli • Kiesling • Leonard • Sutherland • Michelosen • Bach • Kiesling • Parker • Nixon • Austin • Noll • Cowher • Tomlin
Division Championships (18)
Super Bowl Appearances (6)
IX • X • XIII • XIV • XXX • XL
League Championships (5)
1974 • 1975 • 1978 • 1979 • 2005
Hall of Fame Members
Players - Blount • Bradshaw • Dudley • Greene • Ham • Harris • Johnson • Lambert • Layne • Stallworth • Stautner • Swann • Webster
Coaches and Administration - Bell • Kiesling • Noll • Art Rooney • Dan Rooney
Seasons
1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
Current League Affiliations
v • d • e
List of NFL head coaches by team