Former Steelers OLB James Harrison was a guest on Ben Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin podcast yesterday, streaming live during the game. While they discussed what they were seeing live, they also fielded questions from fans. Several fans asked the former Defensive Player of the Year if he ever considered coaching for the Steelers.
“Let’s just say I put a feeler out there, but I got no response”, Harrison said. The comment comes at roughly the 53-minute mark in the livestream. It was met with laughter by Roethlisberger and left alone after that, but it’s an interesting nugget. After all, the Steelers under Mike Tomlin are not averse to hiring former players.
Just off the top of my head, Tomlin hired the man James Harrison replaced, Joey Porter Sr., to coach linebackers. He also had Carnell Lake and Jerry Olsavsky on the staff, and others have interned like Alan Faneca. Ike Taylor previously did intern and is now working as a scout for the organization.
Harrison’s potential interest in coaching isn’t wholly surprising, even if he might come across rough around the edges at times toward the media. While he had to learn how to be coachable early in his career, he has shown indications of this profession.
In his final NFL season, for example, he noticed in T.J. Watt that he appeared stronger playing on the left side than the right side. Harrison insisted he had no bias in saying that, given that he played on the right. The Steelers ended up starting Watt over Harrison, which didn’t sit well and resulted in an unseemly parting of ways.
But that is all long water under the bridge, at least for those who were involved. Harrison has been back around the facility many times, getting involved. I’m sure many of you remember the clip of him showing Nick Herbig some pass-rush moves. Herbig himself later said that he “learned so much” from just his 10 minutes with the five-time Pro Bowler.
James Harrison even made a cameo with GM Omar Khan, so he manages to find ways to involve himself with the Steelers. But I imagine Mike Tomlin is happy with Denzel Martin as his outside linebackers coach right now.
We also can’t be sure how serious Harrison was when he made the comment, though he seemed sincere enough. Does he genuinely want to coach? It would certainly be interesting to see him in training camp next year as an intern.
