One thing Steelers fans may not think about, at least on a regular basis, is how good their coaching staff truly is.

Amid the seas of change every NFL season, the Steelers are renowned for their lack of firing and hiring, with only 3 coaches at the helm since Chuck Noll was hired in 1969. The legendary Noll, a Hall of Fame coach who won four Super Bowls with the Steelers, was succeeded by Bill Cowher in 1992. Cowher would take Pittsburgh to two trips to the Super Bowl, winning one of them.

After 15 seasons, Cowher retired, and was replaced by current head coach Mike Tomlin in 2007. Tomlin continued a Rooney trend of hiring young coaches, and would also continue a winning tradition passed on by his predecessors. Tomlin would become the youngest NFL head coach to lead his team to, and win a Super Bowl, in 2008; his second season as a head coach.

Like Cowher, Tomlin would also go 1-for-1 in Super Bowl appearances, leading the Steelers back to the big game during the 2010 season, but failing to win. Interesting enough, the trio of Noll, Cowher and Tomlin all have a least 90 wins and one Lombardi Trophy on their resume.

Such is the success of Tomlin, that he has never had a losing season entering his 10th season as the Steelers head coach. His 92-52 regular season record is good for a .639 win-loss percentage, higher than both Noll (.556) and Cowher (.623) though Noll could be excused for needing more time to improve a “worse” team than his predecessors.

Tomlin’s Staff

A coach, at times, is only as good as his staff… and Tomlin has one of the most experienced teams in the NFL. The assembled list of names is as follows:

Name	Position	NFL Years	Team Years
Todd Haley	Offensive Coordinator	20	5
Randy Fichtner	Quarterbacks	10	10
Mike Munchak	Offensive Line	23	3
James Saxon	Running Backs	17	3
Richard Mann	Receivers	32	4
James Daniel	Tight Ends	24	13
Shaun Sarrett	Offensive Assistant	5	5
Keith Butler	Defensive Coordinator	18	14
John Mitchell	Defensive Line	26	23
Jerry Olsavsky	Inside Linebackers	7	7
Joey Porter	Outside Linebackers	3	3
Carnell Lake	Secondary	6	6
Danny Smith	Special Teams Coordinator	22	4
Garrett Giemont	Strength and Conditioning	35	10

I dedicated an entire column on the love/hate relationship with current offensive coordinator Todd Haley, but the fact remains he’s a former head coach who is one of the best at his position.

Mike Munchak, also a former head coach, is a Hall of Famer who has kept the offensive line units in check despite injuries which may have crippled other teams.

Both Haley and Munchak represent 43 years of coaching experience. Haley was hired in 2012, while Munch joined the team in 2014. Each is considered a yearly candidate to leave the Steelers for a head coaching position elsewhere, yet, like other names on this list, appear to be fully entrenched in making Pittsburgh a world championship team.

Quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner has been with the Steelers for his entire 10 year NFL career, in which he’s worked with everyone from Big Ben to Charlie Batch to Landry Jones, however, he has been coaching at the collegiate level or higher since 1986. Fichtner was originally hired in with Mike Tomlin, replacing Bruce Arians as the wide receiver coach when the latter was promoted to offensive coordinator.

Fichtner was instrumental in developing receivers such as Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and the early development of Antonio Brown. He would move to quarterbacks coach in 2010 after the previous coach, Ken Anderson, retired. Richard Mann, the current Steelers WR coach, enters his 32nd year in the NFL, and has been responsible for the recent growth of receivers Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant.

James Saxon (17 years) and James Daniel (24 years, 13 with the Steelers) round out the backs and tight ends coaches.

The defensive side of the ball is lead by coordinator Keith Butler. The longtime understudy of former DC Dick LeBeau waited 13 years before taking over the defensive coaching duties last season, producing a unit which was 11th in points against, 5th against the run and 3rd in sacks, but requires improvement to 3rd-worst passing defense.

Butler is joined by defensive line and assistant head coach John Mitchell, who enters his 24th year with the Steelers, was originally hired during Bill Cowher’s era, joining the Steelers in 1994 and never looking back. Mitchell has worked with legendary coaches such as Bear Bryant and Lou Holtz during a career which has spanned over 40 years total.

Mitchell’s success with the defensive line has contributed to 11 playoff berths, 8 AFC Championship appearances, and four trips to the Super Bowl. He is the unsung hero of developing Pro Bowl talents such as Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel, and is currently the longest tenured coach on the Steelers staff.

The remaining defensive positional coaches are all former Steelers: Jerry Olsavsky and Joey Porter coach the linebackers, while former safety Carnell Lake leads the secondary. Of the trio, Porter has the least coaching experience, having joined as a special assistant before taking over outside linebacker duties when Butler was promoted in 2015.

On special teams, Danny Smith brings 22 years of experience to the table, while Pittsburgh’s strength and conditioning specialist, Garrett Giemont, has been working with professional football players for 35 years.

Combined, the Steelers coaching staff has over a total of 260 years of coaching experience in the NFL; over 119 of those years are with Pittsburgh, making the Steelers one of the most experienced coaching staffs in professional football.