PITTSBURGH — No one should be surprised if former Steelers Deshea Townsend and Larry Foote end up as head coaches in the NFL. They are taking the traditional path to what they hope is the top of their profession, gathering valuable experience as assistant coaches.
Townsend, passing-game coordinator and cornerbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, is in his ninth NFL season. Foote, co-defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is in his eighth season.
I know both men. I know how smart they are. I know what terrific communicators they are.
I wouldn't be the least bit troubled if Townsend or Foote took over for Mike Tomlin when that time comes.
Hall of Famer Joe Greene tried to go the assistant route but came up just short. He worked for 18 seasons with the Steelers, Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals before retiring from coaching after the 2003 season. He was a finalist for the Steelers job that went to Bill Cowher after Chuck Noll retired after the 1991 season. Greene is generally regarded as the best leader in franchise history and would have been a great coach. It didn't hurt that he was a legend as a player, although I'm not sure how much that matters in coaching. Hall of Famer Magic Johnson failed as a head coach in the NBA. Jim Leyland, who spent seven years as a minor league catcher and was a .222 hitter, is the best baseball manager I've known.
As it turns out, there is another road to become an NFL head coach.
The decision by the Indianapolis Colts to hire former center Jeff Saturday with no coaching experience became a national story. It led me to wonder which former Steelers could make such a jump.
I instantly came up with three names:
Jack Ham
Without question, Ham is the smartest football player I've known. Noll often called him technically perfect. Teammates would give him a standing ovation in the film room, so amazed were they by the plays he made. He always was in the right place doing the right thing.
"I never, ever had any thought of coaching," Ham told me Tuesday. "Not in a million years."
Ham told the story of a long-ago teammate blowing a coverage that had been carefully designed by defensive coordinator Bud Carson.
"I saw that and thought, 'You gotta be kidding me. If I'm a coach, my career is going to be predicated by guys like this? No, thank you,'" Ham said.
"I would rather have my career and my success in my own hands."
Jerome Bettis
Bettis was another in a long line of great locker room leaders. I remember him telling me it was his job to settle problems before they reached Cowher's level. "You ask yourself, 'Can I step in and shut it down?' If not, you take it upstairs. You do what you have to do for the team. Fortunately, there was never a situation I couldn't handle."
Do you think teammates respected Bettis?
I'll never forget what Hines Ward said when he ended his contract holdout during training camp in 2005:
"Jerome told me to come back in."
Bettis didn't have time to become a coach. He has been highly successful in a variety of business interests.
James Farrior
Farrior's voice was the last voice teammates heard after Tomlin spoke to the squad before games. "Our unquestioned leader," Tomlin called him. "He sets the tone for this outfit."
It was a responsibility Farrior took seriously.
"It means I have to always be on point. I can't ever screw up. I can't ever slack off."
As for coaching?
"Never had any desire at all," Farrior said Tuesday. "That's harder than playing. Those guys work more hours, long hours. Maybe if I was single, but not with a family. I'd never get to see my kids."
It's not just the time involved. It's the pay cut that most players would have to take to be a coach, especially the stars who made millions. Tomlin joked about that during his Tuesday press briefing.
"I tell them, 'Don't quit [your] day job. There's a lot more money in playing.'"
I asked Ham and Farrior what teammates they could see as a head coach.
"Mike Wagner," Ham said without hesitation. "Bud Carson was a smart defensive coordinator, and Mike would challenge him. Our defense got to be pretty complicated, and Mike knew what everyone was doing.
"I remember once Mike got hurt in a game against New England. Ron Johnson was a rookie cornerback for us, and he kept coming to the bench to see if Mike was ready to come back in. You know why he was so interested? Mike told him what to do on every play. Mike helped our whole defense so much."
Farrior mentioned Joey Porter, who was a Steelers assistant from 2014-18. He called Townsend and Foote "natural coaches" and said Ryan Clark has "a coaching mentality."
I also asked Farrior and Ham what they thought about Saturday's hiring. It has been widely criticized by most football people, including Cowher, who called it "a disgrace to the coaching profession" and "a travesty."
"Like a lot of people, I think it's a slap in the face to guys who have been doing it all along," Farrior said. "But I know Jeff. I played against him. He's a football guy. He's a smart guy. I can see his attractive qualities."
Ham wasn't offended by Saturday's hiring.
"Working your way up is important in open-heart surgery, not in coaching," he said. "You're the CEO of a company as a head coach.
"Saturday seems like a smart guy. Offensive linemen usually are the smartest guys on a team. From what I can see, his players seem to play for him. I know it's just a one-game window, but he seems to be able to relate to those guys.
"I'm eager to see how he does."
So is Farrior.
Isn't everybody who watches the NFL?
