After 29 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and 50 years as a football coach, Steelers assistant John Mitchell called it a career on Wednesday.
“I'm grateful to the Rooney family for the wonderful opportunity to coach and work for the Steelers for nearly 30 years,” Mitchell said. “It was truly an honor. I'd also like to thank Coach Tomlin for giving me the opportunity to stay with the franchise when Coach Cowher retired. I will treasure my time in Pittsburgh and appreciate everyone affiliated with the organization.”
Mitchell played at the University of Alabama, before becoming a college assistant coach with stops at Alabama, Arkansas and LSU. He was hired under Bill Belichick when the New England Patriots legendary coach was still with the Cleveland Browns.
He's spent the last 29 seasons under Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin with the Steelers. Mitchell won two Super Bowl rings in four appearances with the Steelers over just under 30 years, and was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
“I'm not sure that I can offer sufficient praise and admiration for Mitch – as both a man and football coach,” Mike Tomlin said. “Mitch has been a central figure in the success of the Pittsburgh Steelers for nearly three decades. He has coached some of the best players in this franchise's illustrious history, and each one of them would tell you their success was a direct result of not only Mitch's coaching acumen, but also his mentorship, leadership and character.”
Mitchell started as the defensive line coach in Pittsburgh, then served as assistant head coach/defensive line coach before being promoted to assistant head coach in 2018.
“In my 24 years coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line, the things that I coached were the things that I learned at Alabama,” said John Mitchell.
“I would tell my players that the things we're going to do here are not things John Mitchell thought about when he was lying in bed. These are things that were taught to me when I was at the University of Alabama. We had a lot of success. If you believe in them and work hard, you'll have success.”