'Burgh's Best to Wear it, No. 76: Steelers' John Banaszak coached 2 college teams, reached 3 Halls of Fame

The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.

No. 76: John Banaszak

Under-recruited out of high school and undrafted after college, John Banaszak still found a way to make an indelible mark no matter where he landed.

He won four championships in two leagues, was a star for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII, earned induction into three Halls of Fame and became head coach at two area colleges.

That was after a six-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps starting at the age of 18 (two years, active duty, six as a reservist).

“There are a lot of kids that at that age think they are tough guys,” Banaszak told Steelers.com. “I thought I was a tough guy. I had no idea what I was getting into when I joined. They taught me not only to be a tough guy, but they taught me to be a smart, tough guy.”

Banaszak, who played seven seasons on the Steelers defensive line, is the Tribune-Review sports staff’s choice as the best athlete to wear No. 76 in Pittsburgh.

After leaving the Marines, Banaszak entered Eastern Michigan without a scholarship and joined the Steelers in 1975 as an undrafted free agent.

He was one of three rookies to earn a roster spot on the defending Super Bowl champions, then played on three more title-winners with the Steelers. Against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII, he was named defensive player of the game after recording two sacks and a fumble recovery.

He played three seasons in the USFL, winning a championship with the Michigan Panthers in 1983 and serving as player/coach of Memphis Showboats in 1985, when one of his players was Reggie White.

After his playing career, Banaszak entered coaching. He was head coach at Washington & Jefferson from 1999-2002, compiling a record of 38-9 while being honored as Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in all four seasons.

He was an assistant at Robert Morris for 11 years, helping the team lead the FCS in total defense in 2006 before he was named coach-in-waiting in ’12 as the successor to Joe Walton following the ’13 season.

As head coach, Banaszak guided some of the best special teams in the Northeast Conference, but Robert Morris compiled a 9-35 record in his four seasons.

Banaszak has been recognized as a standout at nearly every stop in his playing and coaching career, earning membership in the United States Marine Corps, Eastern Michigan and Washington-Greene County Halls of Fame.

Other notable players who wore 76 include:

• Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, a three-time All-Pro defensive tackle, played 10 seasons in the NFL — the final two (1961 and ’62) with the Steelers. Coach Buddy Parker paid Lipscomb the ultimate compliment: “The best man I ever saw at knocking people down.”

He was so much bigger than most of the players of his era (6-foot-6, 306 pounds), he wore a size 56 suit and a custom-made jock strap, Sports Illustrated reported.

Lipscomb died of a heroin overdose in 1963 at the age of 31, four months after he was named lineman of the game in the January, 1963, Pro Bowl. SI said mourners lined up “four abreast” for 12 hours at a Baltimore funeral home. Former teammate Lenny Moore of the Colts said, “You’d have thought it was a big movie star in there. Or a head of state. Biggest thing I ever saw like that in this town.”

• Steelers defensive linemen Kevin (pronounced Kee-ven) Henry and Chris Hoke. Each played eight seasons with the team. Hoke played on two Super Bowl champions; Henry was a member of the 1995 Steelers that lost Super Bowl XXX to the Cowboys.

• Pitt defensive lineman Bill Neill, who played on four Panthers teams from 1977-80 that compiled a composite record of 29-8-1. He was a fifth-round draft choice of the New York Giants in 1981.

• Former Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt also wore No. 76 as an offensive tackle, including the 1973 season when he was a co-captain on coach Johnny Majors’ first Pitt team.

• Richard Park, who played 14 seasons in the NHL, four with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He totaled 102 goals, 11 in Pittsburgh.

Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.