LATROBE — Tom Bradley stood on the 10-yard line of Field 2, one of four practice fields at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp here.
It was a bit after 5 o’clock earlier this week and the sun was shining bright on the campus of Saint Vincent College, site of the Steelers camp for the past 53 years.
Morning rains and a private walkthrough on the artificial turf field had given way to a humid and heavy afternoon of drills, live scrimmages and an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 4,000 loud fans.
They came to cheer on Big Ben and A.B. — who didn’t disappoint, with a couple of electrifying catches, a ball spin and a tightrope toe-tapping TD along the sidelines closest to the bleachers — and catch a glimpse of head coach Mike Tomlin gruffly barking orders clad in bulky black pants and a loose black shirt.
Bradley is in his first season with the Steelers, as the coach of a secondary that was at times maligned in 2017, when it ranked third in the NFL in yielding the most completions over 40 yards. Clad in a trademark white long-sleeved shirt (albeit with STEELERS on the front) and dark slacks, the 62-but-looks-52-year-old Bradley — fit and in fighting shape — looked almost exactly the same as he did when he last coached in Pennsylvania.
That was nearly 80 months ago, back in 2011, when he began the season as Penn State’s defensive coordinator and ended it as interim head coach. Since then, he’s had stints doing Pittsburgh ESPN radio covering the Steelers and for CBS TV analyzing college football, followed by coaching gigs at West Virginia (senior associate head coach) and UCLA (defensive coordinator).
Now he was back.
“I was in LA. Now I’m in LA-trobe,” cracked Bradley.
In some ways, it was like he never left. Bradley was born and raised in Johnstown. He was at Penn State for almost four decades, as a player and coach. But Pittsburgh…Pittsburgh was like “Cheers” to Tom Bradley. Everyone knew his name. And still does.
“I never sold my house in Pittsburgh,” a fact he offers with a grin, while setting up the punch line: “I flew back, went home, dropped my bags, went to sleep, woke up and went to work.”
OUTSTANDING IN HIS FIELD
As Bradley stood talking on the St. Vincent’s field, streams of Steelers walked past, practice having ended a few minutes over schedule. They trudged across three fields and headed uphill along a path to the locker room, with hundreds of fans on each side, hoping for photos and signatures.
The Steelers Nation and the Nittany Nation are both rabid. Perhaps no one knows it, has lived it, more than Bradley.
“You’re coaching for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the greatest organizations in football history. For a guy who grew up around here, 30 miles down the road in Johnstown…” said Bradley, pausing to point into the blue and white sky towards his hometown, “…it’s good to be back home.
“I love it. Nothing better than getting a chance to play ball with a great group of guys I’m coaching,” he added. “It’s a great atmosphere. The fan base of the Pittsburgh Steelers is incredible. We practice hard. You can sense the enthusiasm. You watch our guys come to practice and the excitement among the fans is unbelievable.”
The Steelers have trained at this Benedictine college, founded in 1846, for over a half-century. There are signs of the Steelers everywhere, from Rooney Hall (where the players live during camp) to Chuck Noll Field (where they just capped the afternoon with 7-on-7 drills, as Bradley shouted reminders to a rookie Steelers safety named Marcus Allen).
This may be Bradley’s first camp as a Steelers coach, but it was far from his first time at Saint Vincent. He visited as a Penn State assistant and as part of the Steelers’ radio crew. He also made the pilgrimage as a high schooler from Bishop McCort, where he played football, track and basketball with bothers Jim and Matt — both of whom went to Penn State as well. (Jim is the Steelers’ longtime orthopedist).
“I used to watch them practice as a kid,” Bradley recalled, standing on the field where Bradshaw & Co. began four Super Bowl seasons. “I’d come down in high school and watch practice, back in the days when the Steelers first started to roll, with guys like Jack Ham. Everyone knew Jack — he went to my high school. The Lamberts and Mel Blounts and Franco (Harris) — I knew about him because he was a Penn State guy — and Rocky Bleier. I better mention Lynn Swann, since he’s the AD at USC. Those are iconic figures in the history of Pittsburgh Steeler football.”
Now, Bradley is part of that history. It’s a unique football double, having coached at the commonwealth’s college football dynasty as well as its pro football dynasty (sorry, Eagles fans; it’s six Super Bowl titles to one).
Bradley coached at Penn State under Joe Paterno for 33 seasons after earning his nickname of Scrap — which is still in play — as a scrappy special teams player for the Nittany Lions. As the defensive coordinator at Penn State, he guided the Nittany Lions’ defense to six consecutive seasons when they finished in the Top 10 in both total and scoring defense.
At West Virginia, he oversaw the Mountaineers’ defense. And from 2015-17, he was the defensive coordinator at UCLA. Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, AFC North. Bradley knows the business. And his defensive backs give him the business as well.
SAFETY DANCE
It’s early in camp and Pittsburgh has nine safeties and seven cornerbacks on the roster, including Penn Staters Allen and Malik Golden (read my story about him here). The average age of the 16 players is 25; veterans Joe Haden, Cory Sensabaugh and Morgan Burnett are the oldest at 29.
On Monday, their position drills with Bradley included several focused on tackling and its mechanics. Bradley didn’t hesitate to jump in the middle of it all, sans pads, to demonstrate.
“They kid me — they did their research; know I coached guys like LaVar Arrington, Poz, Sean Lee and Shane Conlan — and they say, ‘We’re linebackers, we’re linebackers,’ ” Bradley laughed.
Cornerback Mike Hilton, who played his college ball at Mississippi, appreciates what Bradley brings to the table.
“Coach Bradley is a real textbook guy,” Hilton said. “He’s coached linebackers, so he has a lot of different techniques, which is going to help us in the long run. We know we were one of the worst teams last year with missed tackles. That led to the big plays that we gave up and caused us to lose some big games.”
For Bradley, there’s no place he feels more comfortable than on the practice field.
“I have great guys. Most of them are young,” he says. “Joe Haden is a good veteran player. Guys like Joe and Burnett are real professionals. They go about their business as professionals. And that’s a great learning situation. I want to hear what they have to say and they want to hear what I have to say. They’ve been receptive to that. When those guys roll in the door and talk with technique with you, given their experience in the NFL, it’s a good experience for me. And they’ve taken what I have to say, too — it goes both ways. It’s a good back and forth.”
Same goes for Bradley’s boss. Tomlin is known as a player’s coach. During practice, Tomlin jumps from field to field, covering all four in short order. His voice carries across the wide expanse. But, Bradley says, the 12-year NFL head coach is also a good listener.
“I knew what I was walking into,” Bradley said. “I’ve known Mike’s philosophy for awhile. He says it often — he doesn’t care where a good idea comes from. It’s all about winning, and like Coach Tomlin, I don’t care where the ideas come from.”
The Steelers’ coaching staff includes Mike Munchak, the former Penn State offensive lineman who went on to become a Pro Football Hall of Famer, as well an NFL head coach with Tennessee. He started his Penn State career in 1979, just as Bradley was beginning a stint as a GA (he owns a masters in sports administration, as well as a B.S. in business).
“It’s great with Munch,” he said. “We have that shared history, so there are a lot of good stories to talk about. With Munch, it’s a little different — he’s in the Hall of Fame. He did pretty well for himself. He came in with my younger brother Matt and we know the same people.”
SCRAP DINNER
The clock read 5:30 and it was time for Bradley to head off the practice field, grab a quick dinner and then lead a 6:15 meeting with all the defensive backs.
But first he had to walk past that uphill gauntlet of fans — many of whom know him from his Penn State and West Virginia days.
“One of the great things about being back is knowing all the names and faces, the familiarity with everything,” he said, before turning to make that trek. “When we go through that crowd, I can hear the ‘We Ares’ and the other comments too. It’s a great rivalry. It’s great to hear from the Penn State and the West Virginia fans.”
Bradley never made it to dinner.
Tom’s a talker, as Penn State fans know. And between all the autographs he signed — many are of him and Paterno together, he says — and handshakes and selfies with fans from as far away as Texas, Bradley spent 45 minutes walking from the field to the locker room.
Now…now, he was back.
