James Harrison’s Coaching Request Got Ignored by Steelers: ‘Crickets After That’
It turns out that former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison expressed an interest in coaching for the Steelers, but the organization ghosted him. Harrison revealed the news on the latest edition of Ben Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin podcast.
“Let’s just say I put a feeler out there, but I got no response”, Harrison told Roethlisberger during Sunday’s livestream.
Harrison then showed Roethlisberger his phone under the desk and said, “Crickets after that,” as he showed him his screen. Roethlisberger looked at Harrison and said, “Yeah, of course.”
Harrison didn’t leave the Steelers on the best of terms back in 2017 when he forced his way out and joined the New England Patriots, but that’s all water under the bridge now. He was inducted into the Steelers Hall of Honor in 2023. Why his coaching request got ignored is anyone’s guess. Maybe it wasn’t the right time or a position wasn’t available, but Harrison certainly has a deep knowledge of what it takes to succeed in the NFL as a pass rusher.
Second-year outside linebacker Nick Herbig got some pointers from Harrison at training camp this summer. Harrison was showing him his vintage dip-rip move. It’s advice that Herbig didn’t take for granted.
“I’ll talk to anybody,” Herbig told Teresa Varley of Steelers.com. “I’ll try to get information from anybody.”
Steelers legend James Harrison working with Nick Herbig after practice pic.twitter.com/IhJKTWMINr
— Bo Marchionte (@BoMarchionte) July 31, 2024
All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt was happy to see Herbig picking Harrison’s brain. Watt was teammates with Harrison for one season and was very beneficial to his career. It was Harrison who suggested to the Steelers that Watt should play on the left side instead of the right. He said Watt had a move on the left side that he couldn’t do on the right.
“Honestly, he’s a great asset for any of us,” Watt said. “(He has) a move that’s very difficult to learn. But he’s been able to get so many sacks off of that one move has. He has a couple counters as well.
“For a young guy to be able to learn from James Harrison, a guy that’s a Hall of Famer, why wouldn’t you try to soak up as much information as possible from him. It’s so cool he is willing to spend the time teaching.”
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