Greene to coach linebackers
The former Steeler will instruct players during the first two weeks of training camp.
Steelers outside linebackers will receive instruction from one of the most accomplished pass rushers in NFL history when practice begins Sunday at St. Vincent College.
Former Steelers player Kevin Greene, who ranks third on the NFL all-time sack list with 160 in a 15-year career, will be an assistant coach for the first two weeks of training camp.
"He wants to take some of the things he's learned through the years, tapes that he has, and try to teach other players a little bit about it," coach Bill Cowher said. "I think he is looking forward to it."
"After my time in the NFL, I should know a little bit about the game," Greene said. "It will be good to be back in the Steelers environment to teach the young kids, and maybe, help them a little bit."
Greene, who will celebrate his 42nd birthday on Saturday, was one of the best free-agent signings in Steelers history when he arrived from the Los Angeles Rams in 1993. He spent only three years in Pittsburgh, but he led the team in sacks each season with 12 12, 14 and nine, respectively. He is tied with one of his pupils -- the Steelers' Joey Porter -- for eighth on the team's all-time list with 35 12.
He left the Steelers via free agency in 1996 -- his last game was the Super Bowl XXX loss to the Dallas Cowboys -- and played four more seasons with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers. In a strange consequence, Jason Gildon, who replaced Greene at left outside linebacker, was released by the Steelers last month.
Greene played for Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau during LeBeau's first stint with the team, and the two men have kept in touch over the years. When Greene telephoned LeBeau in January to congratulate him on his return to Pittsburgh, they talked about Greene coming to training camp. The next thing Greene knew, Cowher was calling him to offer a job.
Greene lives in Destin, Fla., has a real estate license and doesn't have any plans to make coaching his life's work.
"Coach Cowher calls this 'Wetting my whistle,'" said Greene, who also has done NFL analysis for ESPN. "I'm not interested in doing it full-time. There is no doubt that when a coach coaches for an NFL team, he practically marries the team and everything else is secondary, and rightfully so."
Greene said he could be a good coach because he considered himself "a student of the game."
"I wasn't dripping with athletic ability, but I studied hard, took advantage of all the pre-snap reads and I was really good at formation recognition," he said.
Green's work with LeBeau and linebackers coach Keith Butler will be especially important because young, inexperienced players Alonzo Jackson and Nathaniel Adibi will replace Clark Haggans, who will miss the first two weeks of camp with a broken hand.
Greene, who has been retired for five years, is getting back in the NFL in his first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I kind of think about the Hall of Fame," he said. "I put my stats up against the people who are in the Hall of Fame now. I think they compare pretty good. But I don't know what the voters think."
