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List of Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches

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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 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

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# Number of coaches[7]
GC Games Coached
W Wins
L Loses
T Ties
Win% Winning percentage
00† Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach
00‡ Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00^ Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the NFL Commissioner
00* Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Steelers
00+ Highest winning percentage in franchise history

Coaches

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Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2023 NFL season.
# 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[broken anchor] (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 Mike Tomlin+* 2007–present* 275 173 100 2 .633 18 8 10 .444 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year (2008)[25] [26]

Footnotes

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  • a 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.
  • b 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 .353.
  • c In 1943 the Steelers combined with the Philadelphia Eagles to form the "Steagles", and Walt Kiesling shared the head coach position with Greasy Neale. In 1944 the Steelers combined with the Chicago Cardinals to form "Card-Pitt", and Walt Kiesling shared the head coaching position with Phil Handler.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NFL history 1933". NFL.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Steelers' History" (PDF). Pittsburgh Steelers. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  3. ^ "Walt Kiesling". ProFootballhof.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  4. ^ "Hall of Famers by Franchise". ProFootballHOF.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  5. ^ "Steelers Name Mike Tomlin the 16th Head Coach in Team History" (Press release). Pittsburgh Steelers. January 23, 2007. Archived from the original on January 25, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  6. ^ Dulac, Gerry (January 18, 2007). "Tomlin, 34, is NFL's rising coaching star". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on May 1, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  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. ^ "Jap Doud Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  9. ^ "Luby DiMeolo Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  10. ^ "Joe Bach Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  11. ^ "Johnny McNally Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  12. ^ "Walt Kiesling Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on August 18, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  13. ^ "Hall of Famers by position". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  14. ^ "Bert Bell Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 3, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  15. ^ "Aldo Donelli Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  16. ^ "Jim Leonard Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  17. ^ "Jock Sutherland Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  18. ^ "John Michelosen Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  19. ^ "Buddy Parker Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  20. ^ "Mike Nixon Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  21. ^ "Bill Austin Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  22. ^ a b "NFL Coach of the Year Award". HickokSports.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  23. ^ "Chuck Noll Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  24. ^ "Bill Cowher Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  25. ^ "Fans pick Tomlin as NFL coach of the year". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  26. ^ "Mike Tomlin Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
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