Joey Porter bringing 'intensity' to Steelers' defense as assistant coach

[hawaiiansteel]

Joey Porter bringing the 'intensity' to the Steelers' defense as assistant coach

By Jeff.Hartman on May 19 2014



When the Pittsburgh Steelers hired Joey Porter as a defensive assistant, not many were sure what he would bring to the table. Turns out, the same thing he did as a player. Intensity.

When it was announced this offseason that the Pittsburgh Steelers were bringing in former OLB Joey Porter to become a defensive assistant coach, fans wondered what exactly Porter would bring to a very porous defense. As the rookies recently found out during their three day minicamp, he brings the same intensity to coaching as he did when he was donning the black and gold uniform every Sunday.

Steelers' first round draft pick, Ryan Shazier especially took notice of the new coach's demeanor. He told Steelers.com, "He's real intense. He's bringing the intensity. It's amazing to have such a great veteran like that, a guy who has such a tradition here in Pittsburgh and the NFL be one of our coaches. It means a lot. Its going to help us inexperienced players."

The intensity that Porter brings to the Steelers team is something that has been extremely lacking on the current roster when such veterans as Larry Foote, James Farrior and James Harrison left the team.

Learning from Porter is something that has been especially important for the rookie linebacker. "Pittsburgh is known for their linebackers, and what they have done. I just want to add my name to that list and be one of the great Pittsburgh linebackers. I just want to continue to learn and do what I can in this playbook."

For Shazier to reach such legendary status as Joey "J. Peezy" Porter in Pittsburgh, he is having the absolute perfect mentor to do just that.

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014-steelers-rookie-minicamp-orientation/2014/5/19/5729826/steelers-coaching-staff-joey-porter-defensive-assistant-2014[/URL]

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers hope former All-Pro Porter can have success coaching Jones, Worilds

By Alan Robinson
Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2014



The Steelers are hoping Joey Porter hasn't lost his edge.

Eight years after the former All-Pro outside linebacker and edge rusher extraordinaire last played for them, the Steelers are counting on Porter's emotion and intensity to energize their pass rush. And in a hurry.

Only he'll do it from the sidelines.

Porter is 37 and three years removed from his last NFL game, but the Steelers brought him back as a defensive assistant to work primarily with their linebackers — with Jarvis Jones a priority.

They're not asking Porter to tone it down, either. They probably wouldn't mind if the man who once tried to climb aboard the Baltimore Ravens' team bus to fight Ray Lewis injects Jones with some of that don't-mess-with-me swagger.

“I'm going to coach the way I played: with my emotions. I love to get after it,” Porter said. “They know me, so I don't have to change.”

A year ago, Porter was coaching a Pop Warner team. He was hired as an assistant at his alma mater, Colorado State, last fall while finishing his degree, and the Steelers then offered him a job working under defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and linebackers coach Keith Butler.

It was an exceptionally quick coaching-ladder progression, but there was a sense of urgency on the Steelers' side.

Jones, their first-round pick last season, didn't develop as expected as a rookie and had only one sack.

He admittedly needed time to adjust to the Steelers' complex defense and to offensive linemen who successfully countered the pass rush moves he relied upon so successfully at Georgia.

The Steelers also decided to cut outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley and his big contract after having only 34 sacks last season, their fewest since 1990.

That means the pass rush, for now, is largely in the hands of Jones and Jason Worilds, who had seven sacks in the final eight games in 2013.

General manager Kevin Colbert said the Steelers couldn't help but see the resemblance in stature and style of play between Jones and a young Porter.

“(Jones) is anxious to respond,” Porter said. “He wasn't happy how it turned out, but he feels like he did the best he can. Now it's try to help him do even more.

“Last year, I can imagine how he struggled with the defense. It's a complex defense to learn it that fast and be thrown in the fire. But the good thing about it is he wants it for himself.”

During training camp, Porter will try to teach Jones other tricks of the trade, such as reading offensive tendencies and determining weaknesses in pass defenders.

“I don't have to say, ‘Man, you have to do this.' He's a good student and wants to learn the game,” Porter said. “Like I tell him all the time, ‘You put in the work, and I'm going to be here for you. I played the position, (so) soak up all the knowledge I have like a sponge, and I'll keep giving it to you.' ”

Former teammates like Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu remain from Porter's playing days, and they'll joke with Porter and call him “Coach Peezy.” Not that he minds.

Polamalu said Porter can “(bring) a lot, his experience and his attitude. He really embodied the Steeler way and attitude.”

While he hasn't changed his personality, Porter — once known for offering an opinion on any and all subjects — admittedly has matured.

“As a player, I would say something slick like I knew it all,” he said. “As a coach, I've got to be humble because I don't. I'm young in this business, and I'm trying to learn.”

The Steelers need Jones and Worilds to learn right along with him. And in a hurry.

[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/6294743-74/porter-1999-steelers#ixzz353bzRTpd[/URL]

[SteelCrazy]

Joey Porter driven by new football role

PITTSBURGH -- He sat at a table with Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor a couple weeks ago, and there was nothing remarkable in itself about Joey Porter chatting up his former teammates in a cafeteria.

Joey Porter plans to approach his duties as a coach in the same emotional way that he did as a player for the Steelers.

But watching Polamalu and Taylor listen intently to Porter, it seemed like 2005 all over again. That's when the two were young players following the lead of the brash, fully charged linebacker who may have been most responsible for the Pittsburgh Steelers ending a quarter-century Super Bowl drought that season.

A couple of hours later, Porter revealed just how much time has passed since he was the soul and guts of a defense in which players fed off the emotional lather that once possessed "J Peezy" to try to board the Baltimore Ravens teams bus after a game because he had unfinished business with none other than Ray Lewis.

Talking about his fledging coaching career after a minicamp practice, Porter candidly said, "I don't have all of the answers. As a player I would say something slick like I knew it all. As a coach I've got to be humble because I don't."

A humble Joey Porter? That must mean up is down, black is white and Johnny Manziel is a recluse.

But watching Porter lead the linebackers in a drill during offseason practices or give pointers to one of the players he is now mentoring served up proof that the five-alarm fire that drove him as a player has simply been transferred to Porter's latest endeavor.

"I'm a coach like I played," said Porter, who joined Mike Tomlin's staff as a defensive assistant in February. "I'm going to coach with my emotion. The coaching staff that I have the opportunity to work with is amazing because these guys know exactly who I am."

Indeed when linebackers coach Keith Butler told his players about Porter trying to get on the Ravens' bus, something that shaped his "J Peezy" persona in Pittsburgh, he didn't relay the story just to draw laughs.

He was trying to make a point.

"Joey always had that kind of barn boss attitude when he played," Butler said, "and we need some of that."

Yes, they do.

The Steelers managed just 34 sacks last season, their lowest total since 1990, and their defense scares nobody this side of their own fan base.

Tomlin didn't just hire Porter to pump up the volume at Steelers' headquarters and instill swagger in the linebackers' meeting room. The latter will work closely with 2013 first-round pick Jarvis Jones, who plays right outside linebacker, the position that Porter owned during his eight-year career with the Steelers.

Jones played extensively as a rookie but managed just one sack. It is critical for a defense that slipped appreciably in 2013 that Jones makes a big jump in his second season.

Jones has gotten stronger and the 6-foot-2, 245-pounder will play faster this season because he has a much better grasp of the defense.

Meanwhile, Porter can only help Jones develop a repertoire of pass-rushing moves, something that was lacking from his game last season.

"Pass rush is all [about] believing that you can beat the guy and execute your craft," said Porter, whose 60 sacks from 1999-2006 rank fifth on the Steelers' all-time list. "You've got to work on it. You just can't go out there and not do pass rush during the week and go out there and expect to get a sack on Sunday. It's not that easy, so you have to really work. That's what I'm trying to get him to do is just work."

It would be an understatement to say that Porter has a willing protégé in Jones.

One of Joey Porter's primary roles as a mentor is to help Jarvis Jones develop pass-rushing moves.

"I'm in his head every day, always asking questions, always trying to figure out the best way to do it," Jones said. "He's always on my butt about just grinding. Not saying that I don't push myself but he's always after me just to keep me going. There's always a next level and that's what he's brought to our whole unit."

There is a limit to how much Porter can help the Steelers' defense though he has kept himself in the kind of shape that suggests he is not far physically from the days when he tormented quarterbacks.

But Porter, who retired after the 2012 season, is clearly serious about coaching and is not just doing it while he figures out what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

Porter spent last season as an assistant coach at Colorado State, his alma mater, and he said he wants to go as far as coaching will take him.

"I can't see myself putting on a suit and tie and sitting behind a desk for eight hours. That would just drive me crazy," Porter said. "I need the smell of the grass. I need to be out here on a football field. I feel like I'm at my best when I'm out here. Even though I can't play no more I still feel like I have a good opportunity to help kids who want to get there."

He is still a kid himself in that he is only 37 and is just getting started in coaching. Porter is young enough that a handful of his former Steelers teammates are still in the locker room he once dominated with his force of personality.

Polamalu and Taylor jokingly remind him of how things have changed by occasionally calling him "Coach Porter." But Polamalu, who is nearing the end of his playing career, knows how valuable it is having Porter back in the Steelers' building.

"He really embodied the Steelers' way and the Steelers' attitude," the veteran strong safety said.

Now coach Porter just has to do it in a different capacity.

"I see all these young guys now. I used to be that," Porter said. "Fifteen years in this business, working as a player [and] now being a coach. In time I don't care who you are, you will humble yourself at some point in time when you get older, and I can just say I'm older. I'm wiser than I was at 22."

[RuthlessBurgher]

Foote: Porter will be an NFL head coach
July, 2, 2014
By Scott Brown | ESPN.com

PITTSBURGH -- The player who dressed next to Joey Porter in the Steelers’ locker room and is still good friends with him doesn’t just predict success for Porter in coaching.

Larry Foote sees Porter going all the way to the top if he chooses to make a career out of coaching.

“I think he’s going to be a head coach in this league one day,” Foote told ESPN.com earlier this week. “I think he has that ‘it’ factor to be a head coach if he stays the course. He has an enthusiasm and excitement that you can’t teach, you can’t develop, you’ve just got to be born with it and I’m excited. Hopefully he grows from the coaching side, X's and O's, organization and stuff like that. But shoot, he’s on the fast track because he can lead men, he can get men to run through a wall.”

Porter has returned to Pittsburgh to do that and learn his new trade as a Steelers defensive assistant. Porter, who joined coach Mike Tomlin’s staff in February, has already shown the same kind of enthusiasm for coaching as he did for playing.

“He brings it every day like he’s a player and guys respect that," said Steelers outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, who has become one of Porter's proteges. "When the linebackers hit the field you can see the energy and positivity and that’s what we need and that’s how we’re going to continue to get better.”

That comes as no surprise to Foote, who was teammates with Porter from 2002-06.

Foote signed with Arizona in March, and he has already heard plenty about Porter there. He said Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told him that Porter is the best leader he has ever seen.

Porter spent two seasons with the Cardinals before retiring in 2012.

Fitzgerald’s praise only reaffirmed to Foote that Porter’s contributions in Pittsburgh transcend his 60 sacks in seven seasons, which rank fifth on the organization’s all-time list.

“Through my time in Pittsburgh there was no better leader,” said Foote, who played for the Steelers from 2002-08 and 2010-13. “He wasn’t on that second Super Bowl team [in 2008] but his imprint was still on that team and it still lives in that locker room a little bit.

“He is selfless, putting his team first and that just sets the tone for the team and the way he played week in and week out. He was an established Pro Bowl guy and he was hungry every week. He loved the game.”

Porter has transferred that love to coaching, and his enthusiasm as well as his expertise at playing outside linebacker and rushing the passer should only help players like Jones and Jason Worilds.

“That’s the thing about Joey, he has one speed,” Foote said. “The game is changing. You need coaches coming in with that energy. A lot of players can feed off the coaches’ energy and what a perfect guy to do it.”

[URL]http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/130849/foote-porter-will-be-an-nfl-head-coach[/URL]

[Oviedo]

Foote: Porter will be an NFL head coach
July, 2, 2014
By Scott Brown | ESPN.com

PITTSBURGH -- The player who dressed next to Joey Porter in the Steelers’ locker room and is still good friends with him doesn’t just predict success for Porter in coaching.

Larry Foote sees Porter going all the way to the top if he chooses to make a career out of coaching.

“I think he’s going to be a head coach in this league one day,” Foote told ESPN.com earlier this week. “I think he has that ‘it’ factor to be a head coach if he stays the course. He has an enthusiasm and excitement that you can’t teach, you can’t develop, you’ve just got to be born with it and I’m excited. Hopefully he grows from the coaching side, X's and O's, organization and stuff like that. But shoot, he’s on the fast track because he can lead men, he can get men to run through a wall.”

Porter has returned to Pittsburgh to do that and learn his new trade as a Steelers defensive assistant. Porter, who joined coach Mike Tomlin’s staff in February, has already shown the same kind of enthusiasm for coaching as he did for playing.

“He brings it every day like he’s a player and guys respect that," said Steelers outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, who has become one of Porter's proteges. "When the linebackers hit the field you can see the energy and positivity and that’s what we need and that’s how we’re going to continue to get better.”

That comes as no surprise to Foote, who was teammates with Porter from 2002-06.

Foote signed with Arizona in March, and he has already heard plenty about Porter there. He said Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told him that Porter is the best leader he has ever seen.

Porter spent two seasons with the Cardinals before retiring in 2012.

Fitzgerald’s praise only reaffirmed to Foote that Porter’s contributions in Pittsburgh transcend his 60 sacks in seven seasons, which rank fifth on the organization’s all-time list.

“Through my time in Pittsburgh there was no better leader,” said Foote, who played for the Steelers from 2002-08 and 2010-13. “He wasn’t on that second Super Bowl team [in 2008] but his imprint was still on that team and it still lives in that locker room a little bit.

“He is selfless, putting his team first and that just sets the tone for the team and the way he played week in and week out. He was an established Pro Bowl guy and he was hungry every week. He loved the game.”

Porter has transferred that love to coaching, and his enthusiasm as well as his expertise at playing outside linebacker and rushing the passer should only help players like Jones and Jason Worilds.

“That’s the thing about Joey, he has one speed,” Foote said. “The game is changing. You need coaches coming in with that energy. A lot of players can feed off the coaches’ energy and what a perfect guy to do it.”

[URL]http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/130849/foote-porter-will-be-an-nfl-head-coach[/URL]

I can see a successful coaching career but not head coach. The most successful coaches in this league are not "rah rah" screamers anymore.

[K Train]

He doesnt neccesarily have to be a rah rah guy but they said hes a good leader.

Harbaugh is a screamer, Gruden (who i loathe as a coach and announcer) is one of the more sought after candidates out there and hes a rah rah guy

[RuthlessBurgher]

If we have to travel to play the Broncos in the playoffs, I want to hear Coach Peezy give the "They shot me in Denver!" speech 2.0.

[K Train]

If we have to travel to play the Broncos in the playoffs, I want to hear Coach Peezy give the "They shot me in Denver!" speech 2.0.

That would be amazing

[Iron City Inc.]

With Mike Munchak and Joey Porter on the staff I have to say we are getting a lot of very good pieces in place. Lake as our secondary coach I believe will pay us serious dividends starting this year as well. Strategically get pieces in place then attack. Looking forward to Latrobe.