Steelers assistant head coach John Mitchell retires after 29 years with franchise

The Pittsburgh Steelers are losing the longest-tenured member of Mike Tomlin’s coaching staff.

John Mitchell, the team’s assistant head coach and a member of the organization since 1994, has decided to retire. He is 71.

Mitchell spent 29 years with the Steelers and has coached in some capacity for the past 50 seasons.

Mitchell relinquished on-field coaching duties as the team’s defensive line coach in 2018. Since then, he has overseen staff development and career development for current and past Steelers players. He also assisted Tomlin in community events.

“I’m grateful to the Rooney family for the wonderful opportunity to coach and work for the Steelers for nearly 30 years,” Mitchell said in a statement released by the Steelers. “It was truly an honor. I’d also like to thank Coach Tomlin for giving me the opportunity to stay with the franchise when Coach Cowher retired. I will treasure my time in Pittsburgh and appreciate everyone affiliated with the organization.”

Mitchell joined the Steelers in 1994 and was the team’s defensive line coach under Bill Cowher through the 2006 season. When Tomlin replaced Cowher, Mitchell added the title of assistant head coach/defensive line, and he remained in that role through the 2017 season. He worked on staff exclusively as the team’s assistant head coach since 2018.

“I’m not sure that I can offer sufficient praise and admiration for Mitch — as both a man and football coach,” Tomlin said in a statement. “Mitch has been a central figure in the success of the Pittsburgh Steelers for nearly three decades. He has coached some of the best players in this franchise’s illustrious history, and each one of them, to a man, would tell you their success was a direct result of not only Mitch’s coaching acumen, but also his mentorship, leadership and character.”

In addition to his extensive coaching resume, Mitchell made history as the first Black football player at Alabama, becoming the first Black co-captain his second year on campus. He was added to the Crimson Tide coaching staff and later became the first Black defensive coordinator in the Southeast Conference.

Mitchell coached at Alabama, Arkansas, Temple and LSU in the college ranks. He also spent two seasons in the upstart USFL. His first NFL coaching assignment came in 1991, when he was the defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick. Three years later, he joined the Steelers.

Mitchell is the second prominent assistant coach to leave the Steelers in the offseason. Linebackers coach and senior defensive assistant Brian Flores took a job after one season with the Steelers to become the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator.