The 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 46th season in the National Football League (NFL). The season concluded with the team winning Super Bowl XIII to become the first franchise in the NFL to win three Super Bowl titles. The championship run was led by quarterback Terry Bradshaw and the team's vaunted Steel Curtain defense. This team is regarded as one of the greatest defensive teams of all time and one of the greatest teams in NFL history. Bradshaw put together the best year of his career to that point, becoming only the second Steeler to win the NFL MVP award. Ten Steelers players were named to the Pro Bowl team, and four were judged as first-team All-Pros by the AP. Head coach Chuck Noll returned for his tenth season—moving him ahead of Walt Kiesling as the longest tenured head coach in the team's history to that point.
The Steelers entered the season as defending champions of the AFC Central Division, coming off a 9–5 record in 1977. Their two losses were by a combined 10 points. Despite winning their division, the previous season was a difficult one for the team (both on and off the field) which culminated in a division round playoff loss to the Denver Broncos on Christmas Eve.
The team began the 1978 season with seven straight victories, a franchise-best start to a season that stood for 42 years, before losing to the Houston Oilers in prime time on Monday Night Football. They finished the season with a league-best 14–2 record, including a 5-game winning streak to close the season. This record assured them they would play at home throughout the . It was also the best record compiled in the team's history (since surpassed only by a 15–1 mark in 2004).
The 1978 Steelers team was rated the thirty-fifth best team in the history of the NFL (to September 2015) by FiveThirtyEight, a polling aggregation and statistical service. The rating is based upon FiveThirtyEight's proprietary Elo rating system algorithm. Only two Steelers teams were rated higher: the 1975 team at twelfth and the 2005 team one slot ahead of the 1978 team at thirty-fourth.
In 2007, the 1978 Steelers were ranked as the 3rd greatest Super Bowl champions on the NFL Network's documentary series America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, with team commentary from Rocky Bleier, Mel Blount, Randy Grossman and Joe Greene, and narrated by Bruce Willis. They also were #3 on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary. For that, commentary was provided by actor Jon Hamm, radio personality Jon Hein, and players Tony Dungy, Franco Harris, Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Lynn Swann.
Offseason
League rule changes
The NFL instituted several major changes for the 1978 season. Chief among these were the extension of the regular season and playoff expansion. The regular season was extended from 14 to 16 games, with an offsetting decrease in the number of preseason games from six to four. Two playoff slots were added expanding the field from eight teams to ten, with each conference adding a second wild card entrant.
Additionally, several rules were changed to help open up the offense, particularly the passing game. One rule which prohibited defenders from contacting receivers more than five yards from the line of scrimmage, came to be known as the "Mel Blount rule" after the Steelers notably physical cornerback. Another rule allowed offensive linemen to use their hands in blocking.
The rule changes upset coach Noll, who years later said of the teams who supported the changes,
In the end, though, the Steelers were one of the quickest teams to adjust to the new rules; the team's offense benefited more from the changes than the defense was hampered by them. The rule changes catalyzed the team's transition from a power running game to more of an air attack.
Coaching staff changes The Steelers coaching staff went through a number of changes after the 1977 season. Principle among these was the loss of Chuck Noll's top assistant, Bud Carson, who had served as the team's defensive coordinator since 1973. Carson interviewed for the head coaching vacancy at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina., and was also a candidate for the St. Louis Cardinals top coaching job. When he didn't land either of those positions (the Tar Heels hired Dick Crum, and the Cardinals lured legendary Oklahoma Sooners coach Bud Wilkinson out of retirement after 14 seasons as an analyst for ABC college football broadcasts) he decided to take a job as the defensive backs coach of the Los Angeles Rams (Carson was hired by George Allen, who was fired after two exhibition games; defensive coordinator Ray Malavasi was named Allen's successor). Defensive line coach George Perles added the defensive coordinator role to his responsibility with the line.
Offensive line coach Dan Radakovich, who had served in that capacity with the Steelers since 1974, resigned to take a position as the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. Radakovich was credited with turning the Pittsburgh Steelers line into one of the league's best. Rollie Dotsch was hired to replace Radakovich. Dotsch had recently been let go along with the rest of the Detroit Lions coaching staff. He had coached the Lions linebackers the previous season.
In the team's final coaching change of the offseason, Dick Walker was hired to coach the defensive backs. Walker had previously served in a similar role with the New England Patriots.
Roster moves Several players who played significant roles in the Steelers recent success would not return for 1978. Among the departed were: defensive tackle Ernie Holmes (traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 10th and 11th round picks in the 1978 draft) guard Jim Clack (traded to the New York Giants along with wide receiver Ernie Pough in exchange for offensive lineman John Hicks) wide receiver Frank Lewis (traded to the Buffalo Bills for tight end Paul Seymour) running back Reggie Harrison (cut) safety Jimmy Allen (traded to the Detroit Lions for a fourth-round selection in the 1979 draft) safety Glen Edwards (traded to the San Diego Chargers for a 1979 6th rounder).
Several of these moves were made in the name of eliminating "distractions". Ernie Holmes, Jimmy Allen and Glen Edwards had all had contract disputes which saw them leave the team for brief periods during the previous season. Holmes, Edwards and Frank Lewis had all lost their starting jobs. None of the moves brought the Steelers a player who had a significant impact on the team in 1978.
The Frank Lewis trade was a complete flop for the Steelers. Paul Seymour failed his physical when the Steelers learned he'd had surgery on both arches within the past five months. His rehabilitation from the surgery was not complete and he was unable to run. Seymour was returned to the Bills who released him, and the two teams failed to work out any other compensation for Lewis. Lewis was the Steelers first round draft choice in 1971, but was unlikely to have made the Steelers roster anyway due to the ascendancy of John Stallworth opposite Lynn Swann and the training camp performance of the younger Jim Smith and Randy Reutershan. Lewis did have some football left in him; he made the 1982 Pro Bowl for the Bills.
The Jim Clack trade also netted the Steelers nothing when John Hicks was injured in the pre-season and placed on the injured reserve list. Meanwhile, both Clack and Ernie Pough made the Giant's 45-man roster, Clack as a starter on the offensive line, where he would be directly involved with that season's Miracle at the Meadowlands between the Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. Longtime Steelers beat writer Ed Bouchette called the Lewis and Clack trades Chuck Noll's "two worst trades in his 23 seasons with the Steelers."
In addition to the players traded away and cut, J. T. Thomas was lost for the season to a blood disorder known as Boeck's Sarcoidosis. Thomas had been the team's starting left cornerback (opposite Mel Blount) and his loss coupled with the Jimmy Allen trade left the team thin at the cornerback position.
Finally, longtime punter Bobby Walden retired, leaving Rocky Bleier as the last player on the roster who was with the team prior to the arrival of Noll in 1969. Walden, who had turned 40 in the offseason and was the team's oldest player, was replaced by Craig Colquitt, who like Walden would go on to a successful tenure with the team.
Draft
The 1978 NFL Draft was held on May 2–3, in the ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. The Steelers selected fourteen players. They also traded their selection in the fifth round (pick 128 overall) to the Green Bay Packers for defensive tackle Dave Pureifory (Pureifory was later traded during training camp to the New England Patriots for their sixth-round selection in the 1979 draft). Coming out of the draft it appeared that the team had addressed perceived needs at punter, defensive back, defensive line and running back.
Notes: pick from St. Louis Cardinals for Marv Kellum pick from Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Ernie Holmes
Undrafted free agents
+ 1978 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeFred AndersonDefensive EndPrairie View A&MRoscoe ColesRunning backVirginia TechAnnise DavisRunning backMissouriDave GillespieRunning backNebraskaLarry McCartneyCenterLouisiana TechJack PhelanDefensive backSaint FrancisJimmy RandolphCornerbackUT MartinMike RhodesWide receiverMiami (OH)Wayne SchwalbachTight end/PunterCentral MichiganRon ScottRunning backNorth Carolina A&TClay SingletaryCenterWest VirginiaGary SitlerPunterWittenbergRobert ThompsonCornerbackGeorgiaBradley WagnerDefensive backKansas State
"Shouldergate"
The 1978 season began with some controversy, when players were caught wearing shoulder pads in off-season drills in violation of league rules. The infraction occurred during a late May rookie camp and was uncovered and reported by Pittsburgh Press reporter John Clayton.
Clayton was not the paper's regular Steelers beat writer at the time, but was just filling in that day. While the practice in which the violation occurred was closed to the media by head coach Chuck Noll, Clayton uncovered the story in interviews with players whom he found wearing pads in the locker room. Clayton contacted the league office for clarification on the rule, which stated that teams must have "no contact work or use of pads (except helmets) in an off-season training camp."
The story caused an uproar among the team's local fanbase, with most of the vitriol directed at Clayton for reporting the story, rather than at Noll and the team for breaking the rule. This sentiment was stoked by Noll's angry reaction to the story, in which he referred to the reporting as "espionage." Even some members of the local media spoke of Clayton as a traitor to the Steeler cause.
The precedent for punishment of such a rule violation was set by an earlier incident for which the Green Bay Packers were stripped of a fourth-round draft pick. The Packers were able to argue at that time that they were unaware of the rule they broke. The Steelers had no such defense, since the team's president, Dan Rooney, was instrumental in negotiations to get the "no pads" rule included in the collective bargaining agreement with the league's players.
NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle eventually stripped the Steelers of their third-round selection in the 1979 draft for the transgression.
Training camp After putting the distractions of the 1977 season and Shouldergate behind them, the Steelers had a very productive training camp in 1978. All-Pro defensive end Joe Greene noted the renewed focus, saying
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Baltimore ColtsW 22–101–0Memorial Stadium 2 Atlanta FalconsW 13–72–0Three Rivers Stadium 3 at New York GiantsL 6–132–1Giants Stadium 4 at Dallas CowboysL 13–162–2Texas Stadium