The Pittsburgh Steelers franchise has had 17 head coaches throughout its history. Founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933, the name was changed to the Steelers prior to the 1940 season to celebrate the city's heritage of producing steel. Joe Bach served two separate terms as head coach and Walt Kiesling served three separate terms. During the and seasons, due to the number of players who fought in World War II, the Steelers combined their team with Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively. During these seasons, Kiesling shared coaching duties with Greasy Neale and Phil Handler, 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. In 1947, under Sutherland, the Steelers played their first playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles. 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. One of only four men to coach the same team for 23 years, Noll retired in 1991. 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, who was hired to replace the retiring Cowher in 2007.
Key #Number of coachesA running total of the number of coaches of the Steelers. Thus any coach who has two separate terms as head coach is only counted once.GCGames CoachedWWinsLLosesTTiesWin%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.
# Image Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards Ref./Notes GC W L T Win% GC W L Win% Pittsburgh Pirates1Forrest Douds*1933*11362.333— 2Luby DiMeolo*1934*12210 0.167— 3Joe Bach*1935–1936*241014 0.416— 4Johnny Blood ‡*1937–1939*25619 0.240— 5Walt Kiesling ‡*1939–1940*193133— Pittsburgh Steelers6Bert Bell ^1941202 0.000— 7Aldo Donelli1941505 0.000— –Walt Kiesling ‡*1941–1944*3513202— 8 Jim Leonard*1945*10280.200— 9Jock Sutherland1946–1947231391.591101.00010John Michelosen*1948–1951*4820262.435— –Joe Bach*1952–1953*2411130.485— –Walt Kiesling ‡*1954–1956*3614220— 11Buddy Parker1957–196410451476.520— 12Mike Nixon1965142120.143— 13Bill Austin1966–19684211283.282— 14Chuck Noll †*1969–1991*3421931481.56624168.667UPI AFC Coach of the Year (1972)Maxwell Football Club NFL Coach of the Year (1989)15Bill Cowher†*1992–2006*240149901.62321129.571AP NFL Coach of the Year (1992)Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1992)Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (2004)16Mike Tomlin+*2007–2025 309 193 114 2 .628 20 8 12Motorola NFL Coach of the Year (2008)17Mike McCarthy2026–present 0 0 0 0 .000—
Footnotes
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. 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. In the Steelers combined with the Philadelphia Eagles to form the "Steagles", and Walt Kiesling shared the head coach position with Greasy Neale. In the Steelers combined with the Chicago Cardinals to form "Card-Pitt", and Walt Kiesling shared the head coaching position with Phil Handler.
See also List of Pittsburgh Steelers players
References
External links Pittsburgh Steelers history at CBS