Now that he’s comfortably in his post-playing days, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has plenty of time on his hands as a family man.
Just because he has time on his hands though doesn’t mean he wants to jump into the coaching ranks, even if fans and some former teammates have made the case for him to do so.
Appearing on the “Alpha 5 Method” podcast with former Steelers’ quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, Roethlisberger said that he’s content with where he is in life, being a family man and coaching his children. Therefore, he won’t be jumping into the NFL coaching ranks anytime soon.
“I don’t know. People ask me all the time, obviously I was big talk this year, me being the coordinator and all that in Pittsburgh. But…I stopped playing. One of the reasons I stopped playing was to spend more time with my family,” Roethlisberger said to Gradkowski, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “And I tell Benjamin, he’s always like, ‘Dad, you need to go back and be a coach.’ I’m like, ‘Buddy, do you realize that coaching takes more time than playing?’ It’s a lot of time.
“And so, I don’t see it anytime soon just because I enjoy what I’m doing now. I enjoy being with the family. I enjoy being able to go golf with my son wherever he wants or go hunting or do whatever it is. And so, I don’t see anything in the near future at least, in that realm. I mean, I help[ed] coach his fifth-grade football team this year, so little things like that, but not nothing more, I don’t think.”
As Roethlisberger pointed out, coaching can take up more time than being a player does. There’s so much to do with coaching from a preparation standpoint, and you often hear about coaches being in the facility all hours of the day.
That’s something Roethlisberger doesn’t want, and rightfully so. He put in the time and energy as a player, and now it’s to reap the rewards of that work, allowing him to stay home and be a dad and a family man.
Though he has dabbled in coaching some, serving as the assistant coach for the Quaker Valley Fighting Quakers’ 9- and 10-year-old team last fall, a move to the NFL ranks isn’t in the cards for Roethlisberger, even with fans calling on him to save the Steelers last season in the midst of former offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s struggles.
It’s a fun discussion for fans. Roethlisberger was an all-time great quarterback with an impressive offensive mind who thrived on backyard football, drawing up plays in the dirt at times in clutch moments. But him coaching is not going to happen anytime soon.
