The Steelers’ Connection to High School Football

The Rooneys have never lost sight of why football is so ingrained in Western Pennsylvania. They are big supporters of high school football and allow the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to stage its championship games at Heinz Field every year.

That commitment puts a lot of stress on a playing surface that has already endured three months of Pitt and Steelers games.

But the Rooneys recognize how special it is for kids to play at an NFL stadium and the Steelers also regularly shoot footage of high school football during the season and show clips from games on their website.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic stands out among high schools in the Pittsburgh area in regards to its connection to the Steelers.

Dan Rooney starred at quarterback at North Catholic in the 1940s, and it is also the alma mater of general manager Kevin Colbert.

Then there is the present.

Former Steelers outside linebacker Jason Gildon entered 2016 in his second season as North Catholic’s head coach. In his first season he coached his son as well as the sons of Mike Tomlin and Joey Porter, both of whom were freshmen in 2015.

The presence of Tomlin and Porter, the driving force behind the Steelers’ 2005 Super Bowl run, does not create a spectacle as fans are generally respectful of them.

“People leave them alone and I think that’s what they want,” North Catholic athletics director Mike Burrell said. “They just want to be a dad on Friday night.”

And Gildon just wants to coach though it is hard to imagine anyone having a higher profile among his peers because of what he did during an 11-year NFL career.

Gildon made three Pro Bowls in the 10 seasons he spent in Pittsburgh. His 77 sacks for the Steelers are still the most by any player in franchise history.

Gildon helped burnish the Steelers’ pass-rushing reputation when they were known as “Blitzburgh” and he is part of the chain of outside linebackers that seemingly came off an assembly line.

Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene preceded Gildon. Porter and James Harrison followed him. All of them tormented quarterbacks at what became the glamour position on the Steelers’ defense.

Gildon, Harrison, Porter, and Lloyd combined for 265 sacks for the Steelers. Greene, who signed with Pittsburgh in 1992, led the team in sacks all three seasons he spent with the Steelers.

Gildon played primarily on special teams his first two seasons in Pittsburgh. When the Steelers turned him loose after not re-signing Greene he had extra motivation to play well.

“I didn’t want to let [Lloyd and Greene] down and I think when Joey got here as a young guy I was able to convey that same message to him,” Gildon said. “You take pride in being a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers and when you get out there on the field your ability to go out and make plays not only represent yourself but the guys who came before you at that position.”

Gildon could have never envisioned that he would become so entrenched in Pittsburgh after the Steelers selected the Oklahoma State product in the third round of the 1994 draft.

Before arriving in Pittsburgh, Gildon had heard of Franco Harris and the Steel Curtain. He also knew about Rocky Bleier from watching the TV movie Fighting Back, which chronicled Bleier overcoming incredible odds to establish himself as Harris’ backfield mate in the 1970s.

That constituted the extent of Gildon’s Steelers knowledge before starting a slow climb to the top of the organization’s all-time sacks list and continuing his life in Pittsburgh.

Gildon is trying to make his mark as a coach while also trying to make football as safe as possible for his players. Gildon did not allow his sons to play organized football until they were in fifth grade and he is a stickler for fundamentals.

“That’s part of the game that’s been lost, technique and the proper ways to tackle and just the proper ways to play the game without so much involvement of the head,” Gildon said. “The effort has to be made at the youth level. I think we’re really going to have to look at, is it really beneficial for kids to play football, third, fourth grade, before you turn a certain age.”

Gildon is in a unique position of coaching a player whose father happens to be an NFL head coach. But, he said, Tomlin has been nothing but supportive and gave “sound advice” when Gildon asked him about making the transition from position coach to head coach.

Gildon is serious about pursuing a career in coaching—and staying close to the sport that has already given him so much.

“I’m very passionate about the game,” Gildon said, “and any time I can have an opportunity to give back the knowledge I’ve acquired I relish the opportunity.”