Behind the Bullhorn with Jason Gildon

Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Gildon is on the field again!

But he isn’t wearing pads or a helmet, or donning his familiar No. 92. He isn’t lining up with the black and gold. Instead, he’s wearing a whistle around his neck, and lining up the red and white.

Gildon, who played for the Steelers from 1994 to 2003, is the new defensive line coach for the Indians football team. He was , a welcome addition to a growing roster of other new coaches.

Just as Gildon is new to this position, this position is new to him. His post at PTHS is his first as a high school coach. Though Gildon, 39, has previously worked as a volunteer coach during Steelers summer training camp, his new post also marks the start of his coaching career.

About how he is acclimating to his new charge on the other side of the bullhorn, Gildon said: “It’s a lot different being on this side of things… I have to keep telling myself that I’m not the one playing. It isn’t about me anymore. It’s about the kids. I’m here to help them.”

Gildon reported that the Indians have been very responsive to his coaching. Even though some of the players have hit a wall in the dog days of summer, Gildon said he works them hard to push them to break through it.

“When I’m out there helping those young men learn how to play football, it reminds me how instrumental it was for me to have quality coaches show me the ropes (as a high school player).”

And now, Gildon is lucky, he said, to have another quality coach show him the ropes of his new career: “ brings a lot of coaching experience to the field. He’s coached at different high schools for 20 years.

“He has a lot to teach the kids, and a lot to teach me.”

After leaving the Steelers in 2003, the three-time Pro Bowler went on to play one season with the Jacksonville Jaguars before retiring from the game. From then to now, he has focused most of his time and energy on his wife and four children (ages 15, 12, 9 and 2).

“The professional game takes a lot of your time,” said Gildon. “When you have a family and you’re raising kids, there’s a lot that you miss out on. So, once I was finished, I made it a point to be there at home with my family to try and catch up on some of the lost time.”

Truth be told, however, Gildon never actually retired from the game or finished his involvement with the sport. He merely retired from his career as a professional NFL player. In the seven years since his retirement, football has remained in his thoughts and life, and he always intended to find a way back in to the game.

It was through his job as parent that he found that way back in. At a parent-teacher conference at his son’s school, Gildon mentioned to teacher Scott Fictor that he’d like to get into coaching. Fictor, who recently signed on as receivers coach for PTHS, put Gildon in touch with Piccinini—and the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, even if it wasn’t history, it was news. Gildon’s hire received a great deal of positive media attention, which was much-needed for Indians pride in wake of the undue negative publicity following the Peters Township School Board’s hiring of new head coach Piccinini .

Piccinini, Gildon and Fictor are new coaches for what is largely a new team, as the Indians graduated 23 players from their team last year.

As per that new season, Gildon said he is particularly anxious and excited for the first game, when he’ll get to see the players put to use on the field all those skills he and the other coaches have worked with them to learn.

Gildon, who originally hails from Oklahoma, started his stint with the Steelers as a third-round pick in the 1993 NFL draft, and he still holds the Steelers all-time record for quarterback sacks.

With high regard for his former team, Gildon said that he attends home games whenever he can and remarked, “The Steelers are a very classy organization, from the front office to the last-scouted player. They do a great job of establishing a family-like atmosphere for current and previous players. It’s always nice to go back.”

In closing, Gildon said that he looks forward to a great season for the Indians as well as for the Steelers—though he admits he’s probably a little biased on both fronts.