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List of Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches

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The Pittsburgh Steelers franchise has had 17 head coaches throughout its history. Founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933,[1] the name was changed to the Steelers prior to the 1940 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. Since the beginning of the Super Bowl era in 1970, the Steelers have had only four head coaches, the fewest of any NFL franchise.

Struggling with a losing record 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 17 head coaches spent their entire professional coaching careers with the franchise, including Kiesling, Johnny Blood, 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 head coach Mike Tomlin,[2] who was hired to replace the retiring Cowher in 2007.[5][6]

Key

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

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2025 NFL season.
More information #, Image ...
# 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 Johnny Blood ‡* 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+* 2007–2025 309 193 114 2 .628 20 8 12 .400 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year (2008)[25] [26]
17 Mike McCarthy 2026–present 0 0 0 0 .000 — [27]
Close

Footnotes

  • 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.

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