Buccaneers, Chiefs head into Super Bowl littered with connections to Steelers, region

Before being pushed into “retirement” after the 2011 season, Bruce Arians enjoyed an eight-year run with the Pittsburgh Steelers, including the final five as offensive coordinator.

Although Arians’ departure was turbulent, he didn’t forget the connections and friendships he made during his time with the organization.

That is apparent by the coaching staff he has assembled in Tampa Bay, where he will lead the Buccaneers into Super Bowl LV against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Arians heads a 29-member coaching staff, the largest in the NFL. And it probably is no coincidence nearly a third of his supersized staff has ties to the Steelers or the region.

The list includes:

• Harold Goodwin, assistant head coach/run game coordinator: Goodwin was a Steelers offensive assistant and quality control coach in 2011, and he has followed Arians to Indianapolis, Arizona and Tampa Bay.

• Byron Leftwich, offensive coordinator. The former Steelers backup quarterback was hired by Arians as a coaching intern in 2016, and he also followed his boss to Tampa Bay where he has overseen the Tom Brady-led offense.

• Two other prominent former Steelers players, wide receiver Antwaan Randle El and linebacker Larry Foote. Randle El is an offensive assistant, and Foote is the Bucs outside linebackers coach.

• Roger Kingdom, speed and conditioning coach. The two-time Olympic gold medal hurdler from Pitt was hired by Arians in 2014 to be his assistant strength and conditioning coach in Arizona.

Kingdom works with players on improving their speed.

• Tom Moore, assistant coach and consultant. The former Steelers assistant and offensive coordinator in the 1970s-80s is still going strong at 82 and has been on an Arians staff since 2013.

Others on the Tampa Bay staff with area connections are New Castle native Nick Rapone, the Bucs safeties coach; Cody Grimm, defensive/special teams assistant whose father, Russ, was on the Steelers staff with Arians when Bill Cowher was coach; and Aliquippa’s Anthony Piroli, the team’s head strength and conditioning coach.

The most noteworthy ex-Steeler on the Bucs roster, of course, is wide receiver Antonio Brown, who had 45 catches, 483 yards and five touchdowns in eight games after returning from a league-imposed suspension. Other former Steelers are cornerback Ross Cockrell and defensive lineman Steve McLendon.

Practice squad punter Matt Wile was in training camp with the Steelers in 2019.

The Pitt and Penn State programs also are represented on the Bucs. Former Panthers include safety Jordan Whitehead and running back LeSean McCoy. Penn State produced wide receiver Chris Godwin, tackle Donovan Smith and center A.Q. Shipley, who is on injured reserve after suffering a career-threatening neck injury in November.

The WPIAL is represented not only by Whitehead (Central Valley) and Shipley (Moon) but also tight end Rob Gronkowski, who spent his senior season at Woodland Hills. South Fayette’s Justin Watson, a wide receiver and special teams player, is in his third season with the Bucs.

The Chiefs don’t have as many ties to the region, but one of their connections can be found at the top of the organizational food chain. Team president Mark Donovan graduated from North Allegheny in 1984.

He was named the franchise’s fifth president in 2011 after spending two years as Kansas City’s chief operating officer.

The Chiefs sports medicine and performance staff is headed by vice president Rick Burkholder, who was a trainer for the Steelers and Pitt, his alma mater.

Andy Reid’s coaching staff includes wide receivers coach Greg Lewis, who held the same position at Pitt in 2014; linebackers coach Matt House, a former Pitt defensive coordinator; and quality control coach David Girardi, a New Kensington native who played at Geneva.

Youngstown native Deland McCullough is in his third season as the Chiefs running backs coach.

The Chiefs also have another member of the Steelers “Killer B’s” chasing a Super Bowl ring with a new team. Running back Le’Veon Bell was a midseason addition after being released by the New York Jets. In nine games with the Chiefs, Bell rushed for 264 yards and two touchdowns while backing up Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

He also caught 13 passes for 99 yards.

Two members of the Steelers roster for the season opener are back in Kansas City trying to earn a Super Bowl ring for the second year in a row. Guard Stefen Wisniewski, of Central Catholic and Penn State, returned to his former organization two weeks after he was released by the Steelers in November.

Wisniewski appeared in just one game for his hometown team before sustaining a pectoral injury.

Wisniewski was added to the Chiefs active roster late in the season, and because of injuries along the offensive line, he will start again in the Super Bowl.

Punter Dustin Colquitt rejoined the Chiefs as practice squad insurance for the playoffs, a few days after being released by Jacksonville in early January. Colquitt’s circuitous route back to the Chiefs — he was their punter for 15 seasons — began when the Steelers released him after five games. Colquitt resurfaced in Jacksonville in December, and he was used to punt in Week 16, his only game with the Jaguars.

Another member of the Chiefs practice squad is former Pitt wide receiver Maurice Ffrench.

He signed with Kansas City after going undrafted last year.