The Pittsburgh Steelers franchise has had 16 head coaches throughout its history. Founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933, [1] the name was changed to the Steelers prior to the 1941 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 1943 and 1944 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[ clarification needed ] 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] 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 1991. [2] Bill Cowher, who was Noll's replacement, coached the Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl victory, in 2005 and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2020. The Steelers' sixth Super Bowl win came in Super Bowl XLIII, while head-coached by Mike Tomlin, [2] the team's current head coach. [5] [6] As of 2022, the Steelers have had only three head coaches in the last 54 years.
# | Number of coaches [7] |
GC | Games Coached |
W | Wins |
L | Loses |
T | Ties |
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 |
# | Image | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | Ref./ Notes | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | ||||||||||
Pittsburgh Pirates | ||||||||||||||||||
1 | Forrest Douds* | 1933* | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | .333 | — | [8] | |||||||||
2 | Luby DiMeolo* | 1934* | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | .167 | — | [9] | |||||||||
3 | Joe Bach* | 1935–1936* | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | .416 | — | [10] [a] | |||||||||
4 | John McNally ‡* | 1937–1939* | 25 | 6 | 19 | 0 | .240 | — | [11] | |||||||||
5 | Walt Kiesling ‡* | 1939–1940* | 19 | 3 | 13 | 3 | .188 | — | [12] [13] [b] | |||||||||
Pittsburgh Steelers | ||||||||||||||||||
6 | Bert Bell ^ | 1941 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | [14] | |||||||||
7 | Aldo Donelli | 1941 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | — | [15] | |||||||||
– | Walt Kiesling ‡* | 1941–1944* | 35 | 13 | 20 | 2 | .394 | — | [b] [c] | |||||||||
8 | Jim Leonard* | 1945* | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | — | [16] | |||||||||
9 | Jock Sutherland | 1946–1947 | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | .591 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | [17] | ||||||
10 | John Michelosen* | 1948–1951* | 48 | 20 | 26 | 2 | .435 | — | [18] | |||||||||
– | Joe Bach* | 1952–1953* | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | .485 | — | [a] | |||||||||
– | Walt Kiesling ‡* | 1954–1956* | 36 | 14 | 22 | 0 | .389 | — | [b] | |||||||||
11 | Buddy Parker | 1957–1964 | 104 | 51 | 47 | 6 | .520 | — | [19] | |||||||||
12 | Mike Nixon | 1965 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | — | [20] | |||||||||
13 | Bill Austin | 1966–1968 | 42 | 11 | 28 | 3 | .282 | — | [21] | |||||||||
14 | Chuck Noll †* | 1969–1991* | 342 | 193 | 148 | 1 | .566 | 24 | 16 | 8 | .667 | UPI AFC Coach of the Year (1972) Maxwell Football Club NFL Coach of the Year (1989) [22] | [23] | |||||
15 | Bill Cowher†* | 1992–2006* | 240 | 149 | 90 | 1 | .623 | 21 | 12 | 9 | .571 | AP NFL Coach of the Year (1992) Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1992) Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (2004) [22] | [24] | |||||
16 | Mike Tomlin+* | 2007–present* | 258 | 163 | 93 | 2 | .636 | 17 | 8 | 9 | .471 | Motorola NFL Coach of the Year (2008) [25] | [26] |
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North Division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the seventh-oldest franchise in the NFL, and the oldest franchise in the AFC.
Roderick Kevin Woodson is an American former professional football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Woodson was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 1987 NFL Draft and played his first ten years there. He was also a key member of the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV championship team. He had two shorter stints for the San Francisco 49ers and two seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Widely considered one of the greatest all-time defensive players ever, Woodson holds the NFL record for fumble recoveries (32) by a defensive player, and interceptions returned for touchdown (12), and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1993. His 71 career interceptions are the third-most in NFL history. He was an inductee of the Class of 2009 of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on August 8, 2009. Woodson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016. He played most of his career as a cornerback then switched to safety during the later part of his career. Woodson was most recently the head coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers.
Charles Henry Noll was an American professional football player and head coach. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, his sole head coaching position was for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1991. When Noll retired after 23 years, only three other head coaches in NFL history had longer tenures with one team.
William Laird Cowher is an American sports analyst, former football player and coach. Following a six-year playing career as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as a head coach in the NFL for 15 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He began his coaching career as an assistant under Marty Schottenheimer for the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, serving as the latter's defensive coordinator from 1989 to 1991. Cowher was named head coach of the Steelers in 1992, whom he led until his retirement following the 2006 season. After retiring, he joined The NFL Today as a studio analyst.
Stephen Wood Van Buren was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) from 1944 to 1951. Regarded as a powerful and punishing runner with excellent speed, through eight NFL seasons he won four league rushing titles, including three straight from 1947 to 1949. At a time when teams played 12 games a year, he was the first NFL player to rush for over ten touchdowns in a season—a feat he accomplished three times—and the first to have multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons. When he retired, he held the NFL career records for rushing attempts, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns.
Martin Edward Schottenheimer was an American football linebacker and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1984 to 2006. He was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs for 10 seasons, the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers for five each, and the Washington Redskins for one. He is eighth in career wins with 205 and seventh in regular season wins with 200, and has the most wins of an NFL head coach to not win a Super Bowl. After coaching in the NFL, he won a 2011 championship in his one season with the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League (UFL). He was inducted to the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2010.
Walter Andrew Kiesling was an American football guard who spent 36 years as a player, coach, and aide with National Football League (NFL) teams. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and was named to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team in 1969.
Ivan "Ike" Taylor is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft, and spent his entire 12-year career in Pittsburgh. He played college football at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Russell Scott Grimm is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an assistant coach for the Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans. As a professional, Grimm had multiple selections to both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Grimm played 11 seasons for the Redskins and was a first-team selection to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are an American football franchise representing Pittsburgh. They are the seventh-oldest club in the National Football League (NFL), which they joined in 1933. The only surviving NFL teams with a longer history are the Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and Washington Commanders. The Philadelphia Eagles joined the league concurrently with the Steelers in 1933.
Carnell Augustino Lake is an American former professional football player and coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL). He was a safety and cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He is a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was the cornerbacks coach for the UCLA Bruins under head coach Rick Neuheisel in 2009 before leaving after one season for family reasons. He was the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach until February 2018.
Michael Pettaway Tomlin is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, seven division titles, three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances, and a title in Super Bowl XLIII. At age 36, Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl, a record which was later broken by Sean McVay in Super Bowl LVI. Tomlin holds the record for most consecutive non-losing seasons to begin coaching career with 16 and has never had a losing season.
Joseph Anthony Bach was one of Notre Dame's famed "Seven Mules" and later the head coach for the NFL's Pittsburgh Pirates (1935–36) and later the renamed Pittsburgh Steelers (1952–53).
Richard John Hoak is an American former football player and coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Steelers as a running back. Hoak played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and was selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL Draft. He played for the Steelers from 1961 to 1970, and then became the longest tenured coach in the team's history, from 1972 to 2007.
The 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 71st season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League.
The Rooney family is an Irish-American family known for its connections to the sports, acting, and political fields. After emigrating from Ireland in the 1840s, it established its American roots in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1880s.
American football in Western Pennsylvania, featuring the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, has had a long and storied history, dating back to the early days of the sport. All levels of football, including high school football and college football, are followed passionately, and the area's National Football League (NFL) team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, is consistently one of the sport's most popular teams. Many of the NFL's top stars have come from the region as well, especially those that play quarterback, earning Western Pennsylvania the nickname "Cradle of Quarterbacks".
The Pennsylvania Polka refers to a series of moves affecting the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers franchises in the National Football League (NFL) from 1940 to 1941.
The Jerome Bettis trade was a trade between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL). The trade occurred on April 20, 1996, the same day as the first day of the 1996 NFL Draft, as the Rams were trying to transition to more of a passing offense and felt that running back Jerome Bettis was already on the downside of his career while also feeling that Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips would be a better fit for their offense. Bettis would be traded, along with the Rams' third round pick in 1996, to the Steelers in exchange for their second round pick in 1996 and their fourth round picks in the 1997 NFL Draft.