Review: From Pirates to Powerhouse The 15 Forgotten Coaches Who Built the Steelers' Foundation

By John Turney 

Most accounts of Pittsburgh Steelers history begin in earnest with Chuck Noll’s arrival in 1969, the Immaculate Reception, and the Steel Curtain, you know the usual suspects. That is understandable—the franchise’s six Super Bowl titles and the long-term stability under Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin (with Mike McCarthy now the fourth coach of the modern era) dominate the popular culture of the fan base. It's what they know, what they grew up with. And that's fine, but it's not the only lens to view the franchise in the Steel City.

David Orochena’s new book From Pirates to Powerhouse does something rarer and more useful: it treats the preceding thirty-six seasons and fifteen head coaches as the necessary, if often painful, foundation rather than mere prologue.

Organized in three parts, the book moves chronologically from the 1933 expansion Pirates through the wartime mergers (the Steagles and Card-Pitts), the postwar single-wing holdouts (the club not adopting the T-Formation until the early 1950s), the Buddy Parker years, and the final pre-Noll stints under Mike Nixon and Bill Austin. 

Each coach receives a dedicated chapter that mixes biography, contemporary newspaper accounts (primarily via Newspapers.com), key games, statistical context drawn from Pro Football Reference, and the author’s own "Perspective of an Average Steelers Fan" that includes his passionate memories of the team. That is illustrated by song selections at the close of most chapters supply a light personal touch.

We love stuff like that.

The early chapters are especially strong on the precarious economics of the 1930s NFL. Art Rooney’s $2,500 franchise purchase, the roles of investors such as Milton Jaffe, the reliance on local sandlot and semipro talent (guys like Ray Kemp, Mose Kelsch, Harp Vaughan), and the absence of a draft until 1936 are handled with great detail.

Orochena covers Forrest "Jap" Douds’s 3-6-2 player-coach debut, Luby DiMeolo’s one-and-done 2-10 season, Joe Bach’s two stints (including the near-miss 1936 campaign and the later introduction of the T-formation with Jim Finks), and Johnny Blood McNally’s colorful tenure; all are covered. 

Walt Kiesling’s multiple stints, the brief co-coaching arrangements with Bert Bell, Aldo “Buff” Donelli, Greasy Neale, and Phil Handler, and the later arrivals of Jock Sutherland, John Michelosen, Buddy Parker, and the others are placed in the broader context of league instability, wartime roster shortages, and Rooney’s persistent efforts to keep the franchise solvent through some pretty harsh times.

The author is pretty clear-eyed about the record: the pre-Noll Steelers lost more than they won, coaching turnover was high (eight of the fifteen lasted one season or less; several quit mid-season or just before), and talent was frequently traded away for short-term help. 

Yet he argues persuasively that these coaches—and the organizational habits they and the Rooneys developed—created the conditions under which later success became possible. The last chapters draw the explicit line to the modern era: the shift under Dan Rooney toward stability, draft-centric building (greatly aided by Bill Nunn’s HBCU scouting work), and a preference for young, first-time head coaches in their mid-thirties. 

The book's appendices supply coaching records, an abridged Top 500 Steelers ranking, Pro Football Hall of Fame members, and the Steelers Hall of Honor, giving the volume lasting reference value among other sundries.

The author's prior Steelers Depot columns and input from the Heinz History Center. His tone is that of an informed, longtime fan (Orochena has attended games since 1972 and writes regularly for Steelers Depot) rather than some academic monograph; it reads easily.

From Pirates to Powerhouse fills a genuine gap in history, the beginning until the arrival of Noll. And that's a ton of history that has not been covered like the other longtime NFL teams like the Bears or Packers or Lions, etc.

Readers interested in the full arc of Steelers history—or in the broader story of how a chronically losing small-market franchise of the 1930s–1960s became one of the NFL’s most stable and successful organizations—will find this a worthwhile addition.

The book, Orochena Press (Potomac, Maryland), First Edition 2026 is 186 pages (Advance Review Copy) with 16 of those an appendix. It is available November 16, 2026, on Amazon (print and Kindle) and IngramSpark (print) and the listed price is 20 bucks in paperback and eight on Kindle. 

Note: Photos from this stories via Steelers, we have not seen the illustrations/photos from the book

Author bio: 

David Orochena is a longtime contributor to Steelers Depot, where he writes the “Perspective of an Average Steelers Fan” series. A Pittsburgh native and Steelers fan since 1972, he has attended games since Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) opened and became a season-ticket holder in the PNC Champions Club in 2015. 

He hosts a regular Steelers Town Hall on the Clubhouse app and is a familiar presence among fans at the stadium. After a career with the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security, he lives in Maryland and continues to write extensively about Steelers history, roster analysis, and franchise traditions. This is his first book.