Kevin Steele: 'The rear-view mirror is small ... windshield is big'

[aubiefifty 18,231]

al.com

 

Kevin Steele: 'The rear-view mirror is small ... windshield is big'

By Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com

7-8 minutes

---

For the first time since he was a senior linebacker at Tennessee in 1979, Kevin Steele won’t be coaching football this fall.

It’s an odd situation for the 63-year-old former defensive coordinator at Auburn, Alabama, LSU and a half-dozen other stops around college football and the NFL. Steele spends most days at his island home off the coast of South Carolina, the terms of his buyouts with Auburn and Tennessee making it financially unfeasible for him to take a full-time job this season.

One thing he hasn’t done is dwell on the circumstances of his exits at both schools, where for a time at both it looked like he might be named head coach before another man was hired. While he may have been disappointed in the moment, he insists he isn’t bitter.

“I’m comfortable with who I am,” Steele said in an interview with Mobile’s SportsTalk 99.5 FM. “I’ve been very blessed. So I think at the moment that it happened, probably [there was disappointment], but you know, there’s a reason that the rear-view mirror is small and the windshield’s big. You look out ahead and you just look back to just check things every now. Disappointing at the moment yes, but no, absolutely no bitterness. It was too great a run (at Auburn) and I had too much fun at all to remember three or four days where things didn’t work out the way that maybe you wanted them to. I enjoyed that place too much. I love it. I think it’s a wonderful place. And that’s what I’m going to focus on.”

Steele continues to work with and mentor former Navy SEALs combat veterans as they transition back into society, an avocation detailed in a story by CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd last spring. He also travels around visiting with friends in the coaching profession, and last week spent several days observing at South Alabama, where son Gordon is the offensive line coach.

Steele recently returned from Tallahassee, Fla., where he attended the memorial service for Bobby Bowden. Steele was Bowden’s linebackers coach at Florida State from 2003-06, and said the legendary Seminoles coach had perhaps the greatest effect on him of any coach with which he’s worked.

“Anybody that follows college football knows what kind of man that Coach Bowden was, and what kind of coach he was and the influence he had on coaches and players,” Steele said. “Three-hundred seventy-seven wins, a statue outside the building, Hall of Fame, all that speaks for itself. All of that is wonderful, but the effect that he had on people in terms of his faith and the way he lived his life and gave to each player and each coach, that’s the amazing thing.

“That experience last week, to be with his family and celebrate his life was phenomenal. They had three guest speakers at his memorial service and all of them were NFL Man of the Year winners and all of them played for Coach Bowden. … He had a great effect on me and on a lot of people, and I will be forever indebted to him for that.”

The coaches under which Steele has worked read like a who’s who of all-time college football greats. After playing for Johnny Majors at Tennessee, he also worked for Majors as an assistant, and has also been on staffs with Bowden, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban, among others.

Steele worked for Saban at Alabama twice, as defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach from 2006-07 and again as player personnel director and then linebackers coach from 2013-14. Though more easygoing than the famously intense Saban, Steele said the two got on well together.

“He and I have been friends since I guess 1985, so I’ve known him a long time and a lot of different situations,” Steele said. “No. 1 is he’s a really good friend and he is a good person. Eerybody sees the coaching intensity. It’s there, but it’s not a hard place to work. I was raised by a Marine football coach, so I never knew you had to apologize for being committed to excellence. And that’s what (Saban) is and he demands it and commands it. But he’s a really, really neat person and fun to be around. He’s got a funny side now. We’ve seen it a little bit more than we used to.”

Steele left the Crimson Tide for LSU, spending a year with Les Miles before joining the Auburn staff in 2016. He put some of the best defenses in the country on the field in his five years with the Tigers, helping them to an SEC West title in 2017 and victories over Alabama in 2017 and 2019.

Steele was elevated to interim head coach when Gus Malzahn was fired last December, and for a time looked like a serious candidate for the permanent job. Auburn instead hired Bryan Harsin, who did not retain Steele — who was under contract for two more seasons at $2.5 million per — and instead brought in former Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason as defensive coordinator.

Steele quickly landed at Tennessee as a defensive assistant under Jeremy Pruitt, but that situation unraveled quickly. Pruitt was fired Jan. 18 with the Volunteers amid an NCAA investigation into improper recruiting practices, and Steele was installed as interim coach.

However, Tennessee hired Josh Heupel as head coach, and did not keep Steele. For the second time in less than two months, Steele was out of work, albeit with another hefty buyout resulting from a guaranteed two-year contract at $450,000 per year with the Volunteers.

“I want Tennessee to win, and get it back to the way it should be,” Steele said. “Josh is a good guy. I think he’s got a lot of energy, brings a lot to the table offensively. And then I was very impressed with Bryan when I met him in the interim. He’s a very, very smart football coach. You can tell he’s a leader; it doesn’t take long when you’re in the room with him. There are good players there, and as he gets that thing molded like he wants it, hopefully there will be a lot of success.”

In addition to his work with Navy SEALs, Steele said he plans to be a full-time college football fan this fall. He said he’ll keep a close eye on his former players at Auburn, his son at South Alabama and other friends in the coaching business.

Though by no means a young coach, Steele said he hopes to return to the sideline one day. That could be as a head coach, defensive coordinator or position coach, he said.

“Just wherever somebody needs me, wherever I can affect young men, whatever that role is, that’s where I’ll go,” Steele said. “I’m don’t think necessarily the title is the most important thing about it. It’s where you can affect people. And then if you’re going to be in charge of something, whether it be defense or offense or whatever, that you have a chance to put a good product on the field.”

 

tip of the hat to coach steele for working helping navy seal combat vets working their way back into society.

 

[AU9377 6,019]

On 8/20/2021 at 6:13 PM, aubiefifty said:

al.com

 

Kevin Steele: 'The rear-view mirror is small ... windshield is big'

By Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com

7-8 minutes

---

For the first time since he was a senior linebacker at Tennessee in 1979, Kevin Steele won’t be coaching football this fall.

It’s an odd situation for the 63-year-old former defensive coordinator at Auburn, Alabama, LSU and a half-dozen other stops around college football and the NFL. Steele spends most days at his island home off the coast of South Carolina, the terms of his buyouts with Auburn and Tennessee making it financially unfeasible for him to take a full-time job this season.

One thing he hasn’t done is dwell on the circumstances of his exits at both schools, where for a time at both it looked like he might be named head coach before another man was hired. While he may have been disappointed in the moment, he insists he isn’t bitter.

“I’m comfortable with who I am,” Steele said in an interview with Mobile’s SportsTalk 99.5 FM. “I’ve been very blessed. So I think at the moment that it happened, probably [there was disappointment], but you know, there’s a reason that the rear-view mirror is small and the windshield’s big. You look out ahead and you just look back to just check things every now. Disappointing at the moment yes, but no, absolutely no bitterness. It was too great a run (at Auburn) and I had too much fun at all to remember three or four days where things didn’t work out the way that maybe you wanted them to. I enjoyed that place too much. I love it. I think it’s a wonderful place. And that’s what I’m going to focus on.”

Steele continues to work with and mentor former Navy SEALs combat veterans as they transition back into society, an avocation detailed in a story by CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd last spring. He also travels around visiting with friends in the coaching profession, and last week spent several days observing at South Alabama, where son Gordon is the offensive line coach.

Steele recently returned from Tallahassee, Fla., where he attended the memorial service for Bobby Bowden. Steele was Bowden’s linebackers coach at Florida State from 2003-06, and said the legendary Seminoles coach had perhaps the greatest effect on him of any coach with which he’s worked.

“Anybody that follows college football knows what kind of man that Coach Bowden was, and what kind of coach he was and the influence he had on coaches and players,” Steele said. “Three-hundred seventy-seven wins, a statue outside the building, Hall of Fame, all that speaks for itself. All of that is wonderful, but the effect that he had on people in terms of his faith and the way he lived his life and gave to each player and each coach, that’s the amazing thing.

“That experience last week, to be with his family and celebrate his life was phenomenal. They had three guest speakers at his memorial service and all of them were NFL Man of the Year winners and all of them played for Coach Bowden. … He had a great effect on me and on a lot of people, and I will be forever indebted to him for that.”

The coaches under which Steele has worked read like a who’s who of all-time college football greats. After playing for Johnny Majors at Tennessee, he also worked for Majors as an assistant, and has also been on staffs with Bowden, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban, among others.

Steele worked for Saban at Alabama twice, as defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach from 2006-07 and again as player personnel director and then linebackers coach from 2013-14. Though more easygoing than the famously intense Saban, Steele said the two got on well together.

“He and I have been friends since I guess 1985, so I’ve known him a long time and a lot of different situations,” Steele said. “No. 1 is he’s a really good friend and he is a good person. Eerybody sees the coaching intensity. It’s there, but it’s not a hard place to work. I was raised by a Marine football coach, so I never knew you had to apologize for being committed to excellence. And that’s what (Saban) is and he demands it and commands it. But he’s a really, really neat person and fun to be around. He’s got a funny side now. We’ve seen it a little bit more than we used to.”

Steele left the Crimson Tide for LSU, spending a year with Les Miles before joining the Auburn staff in 2016. He put some of the best defenses in the country on the field in his five years with the Tigers, helping them to an SEC West title in 2017 and victories over Alabama in 2017 and 2019.

Steele was elevated to interim head coach when Gus Malzahn was fired last December, and for a time looked like a serious candidate for the permanent job. Auburn instead hired Bryan Harsin, who did not retain Steele — who was under contract for two more seasons at $2.5 million per — and instead brought in former Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason as defensive coordinator.

Steele quickly landed at Tennessee as a defensive assistant under Jeremy Pruitt, but that situation unraveled quickly. Pruitt was fired Jan. 18 with the Volunteers amid an NCAA investigation into improper recruiting practices, and Steele was installed as interim coach.

However, Tennessee hired Josh Heupel as head coach, and did not keep Steele. For the second time in less than two months, Steele was out of work, albeit with another hefty buyout resulting from a guaranteed two-year contract at $450,000 per year with the Volunteers.

“I want Tennessee to win, and get it back to the way it should be,” Steele said. “Josh is a good guy. I think he’s got a lot of energy, brings a lot to the table offensively. And then I was very impressed with Bryan when I met him in the interim. He’s a very, very smart football coach. You can tell he’s a leader; it doesn’t take long when you’re in the room with him. There are good players there, and as he gets that thing molded like he wants it, hopefully there will be a lot of success.”

In addition to his work with Navy SEALs, Steele said he plans to be a full-time college football fan this fall. He said he’ll keep a close eye on his former players at Auburn, his son at South Alabama and other friends in the coaching business.

Though by no means a young coach, Steele said he hopes to return to the sideline one day. That could be as a head coach, defensive coordinator or position coach, he said.

“Just wherever somebody needs me, wherever I can affect young men, whatever that role is, that’s where I’ll go,” Steele said. “I’m don’t think necessarily the title is the most important thing about it. It’s where you can affect people. And then if you’re going to be in charge of something, whether it be defense or offense or whatever, that you have a chance to put a good product on the field.”

 

tip of the hat to coach steele for working helping navy seal combat vets working their way back into society.

 

He is a good man.