The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2022 season has seen Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada, receiving an avalanche of criticism due to the struggles of the offense. While a younger generation of Steeler Nation, this scrutiny may appear to be like anything the Steelers have faced before, it is hardly the first time controversy has surrounded a coordinator on the staff. Perhaps the most bizarre case of a coordinator under fire in Steelers history occurred when Tony Dungy was under fire, as it came with a surprising extra layer of drama.
Tony Dungy began his coaching career with the Steelers at age 25 | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Prior to the 1984 season, Steelers Coach Chuck Noll hired Jed Hughes to be his linebacker coach with the role of defensive coordinator open. The top candidate for the opening was Dungy, who had been the defensive backs coach since 1981 after playing for the Steelers in the late 1970s. Dungy was viewed as a protégé of Noll by the other assistant coaches and most felt and agreed that Noll would promote him to the role. However, Dungy and Hughes were unsure of it being the final decision, albeit for different reasons.
The soft-spoken Dungy was pushed by his wife Lauren to be more assertive and more of an advocate for himself to be promoted to the role. An opportunity arose when Dungy and Noll traveled to the 1984 scouting combine in New Orleans. Dungy would recall when Noll invited him out to dinner while on the trip and thought Noll would confirm he would be promoted, but afterward would tell his wife the unpleasant news.
Tony Dungy, per Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge
"We go out someplace that he picks out, and then we go to Preservation Hall. And we see this guy play jazz and everything, and I am kind of hanging out, and I am waiting for him to say what he’s got to say. And at the end of the night, we go back to the hotel, and that’s it."
"He says, ‘Wasn’t that great? Did you enjoy that?’ And I said, ‘Yeah!’ So I get back to the room and I call and tell Lauren, ‘He didn’t say anything, so he must be hiring someone else.’"
Tony Dungy was uncertain that he would be promoted to Steelers defensive coordinator | Photo Credit: Getty Images
However, Dungy’s wife was insistent that he should be more assertive and ask Noll directly. Dungy waited till after the combine and returned to Pittsburgh to ask the question he was so hesitant to ask in New Orleans. The response from the unemotional Noll took Dungy by surprise.
Tony Dungy, per Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge
"I say, ‘Coach, can I ask you a question? Do you know what you are going to do about the coordinator?’
He said, ‘You are the coordinator. Who else would it be?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, I kind of hoped that you felt that way, but I just hadn’t heard it.’
And he kind of gave me one of those looks like, Why would I need to tell you? Who else would it be?”
While Dungy was clearly Noll’s guy, Hughes did not agree and wasn’t subtle about it. There were some doubts about whether Dungy would be tough enough to be a coordinator. While those doubts were put to rest quickly when it came to the players as he earned their respect, Hughes would turn out to become a problem.
Hughes was a self-promoter who angered other assistants by free-lancing during practice. He took greater liberties than any assistant ever had. He would seek out opportunities with Noll for one-on-one conversations and suggest developments that contradicted coordinator Dungy’s defensive philosophy or circumvented his authority.
The other assistants grew wary of Hughes and one writer who covered the team acknowledged that “No one liked Jed” and that “He was known as Jed the Snake.” Although Noll saw in Hughes (at least initially) that he was a young coach with a formidable intellect and active imagination, he did not see that things would get worse.
Tony Dungy was considered a protégé to Steelers head coach Chuck Noll | Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times
A Private Meeting at Steelers' Dan Rooney's House
By the 1988 season, the Steelers' struggles on the field and on the staff led to a lot of calls for Noll to be fired. Noll had lost all semblance of coherence on his staff as Hughes continuously undermined Dungy in a ploy that Joe Greene and other assistants viewed as a bid for Dungy’s job as defensive coordinator. Noll had a blind spot when it came to Hughes' actions, and Hughes garnered sympathy from Noll as he complained that Greene led the rest of the staff to “gang up on him.”
Per Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge
“He was an intelligent guy,” said another assistant. “And I think he got in Chuck’s ear. And Chuck knew that he was an intelligent person, and so he would listen to some of these things, and I think it hurt the defense. That’s what got Tony, I think. I don’t know how he got in Chuck’s ear, but he did, and a lot of the things he suggested, Chuck would do.”
During the dark final weeks of the season, after the latest example of Hughes' subterfuge, Dan Rooney took action. He didn’t want to talk in the office, fearing for the privacy of the conversation, but instead invited Chuck to a private meeting at Rooney’s house on the North Side. The old friends sat down in the library, over a glass of wine, and Rooney got to the point.
Per Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge
Dan Rooney: “You’ve got to get rid of Hughes.”
Chuck Noll: “I’m not going to get rid of him.”
Dan Rooney: “You have to get rid of him. He is not our kind of guy.”
Chuck Noll: “Yes, he is; he’s all right.”
Dan Rooney: “No, he isn’t—the stuff with Tony, the stuff with Joe. Chuck, why can’t you see this?”
Chuck Noll: “Well, this is going to break us up.”
Dan Rooney: “Look, I want you to be our coach as long as you can be the coach, but I can’t stand by and watch this.”
Chuck Noll: “Well, you said I had the right to hire my staff.”
Dan Rooney: “Yes, but I also added this caveat, and you will remember this. I said you have the right to hire the staff unless there is a reason for getting rid of the person. We have to fire him.”
In the end, Noll acquiesced that the stipulation Rooney reference had been agreed upon. Regardless, that evening they agreed to disagree. But Rooney had made himself clear: Hughes was going to be fired. It was up to Noll whether he wanted to stay.
At the end of the very disappointing season, Noll was on the verge of stepping away and into retirement. He didn’t say anything directly to the players about it other than in the season finale versus the Miami Dolphins which was “Guys, I want to win this one.” And the players responded, feeling like it was Noll’s final game. The Steelers finished it out strong with a dominant 42-20 win over the Dolphins.
In the offseason, Rooney talked Noll out of retiring. Hughes was let go, with Noll never fully acknowledging Hughes’ treachery. And Dungy was also at a crossroads. He was relieved of his duties as defensive coordinator, though offered back his old job as defensive backs coach. Dungy would move on as he felt that was the wrong move for his career. In the end, the drama that was a cancerous element in the Steelers locker room yet unseen by as great a coach as Chuck Nolls made truth seem stranger than fiction. Yet it would be not the last example of the controversy surrounding a Steelers coordinator.
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