Jan 29, 2017 5 min read

You would think that most high school football programs would be thrilled to have a former Steeler as a head coach and the sons of the current head coach and one of his assistants as players. If there was a thrill for Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, it’s gone now.

Jason Gildon, a former Steelers outside linebacker, who held the franchise sack record until James Harrison broke it this season, was the head coach and he was fired shortly after the season ended.

Soon after that, the sons of Mike Tomlin and his current outside linebackers coach Joey Porter, transferred. So did Porter’s nephew.

It might be safe to say there aren’t many people in the North Catholic community who are sorry to see the parents go.

By all accounts, the kids weren’t the problem.

Joey Porter was allegedly a big problem.

According to a source, Porter made a spectacle of himself at home games and on the road, even though he was with his head coach at the time.

During a game at Riverside in October, Porter reportedly ran on the field to badger the officials. Remember, he’s a Steelers assistant coach and only a North Catholic parent.

North Catholic was reportedly penalized 15 yards and officials asked the North Sewickley police to remove Porter. According to eyewitnesses, Porter told the cops, “If you want me to leave, it’s gonna take more than just you.”

The officers working the game, the source said, had to call for extra help.

Porter then reportedly finally calmed down when the referee threatened North Catholic with forfeiting the game.

Mike Tomlin also was at the game, but not involved in the disturbance. But Tomlin did, on at least one occasion, according to a witness, pay a visit to the North Catholic locker room and drop multiple expletives while trashing the officials.

And during a home game at J.C. Stone Field, Tomlin and Porter were reportedly less than cooperative with Allegheny County police when they were asked to move away from a fence where they were obstructing the view of some fans.

The game ended before the cops had to remove them.

Here’s what an NFL head coach or an NFL assistant coach should do in the stands at the high school football games of their children: Hide.

And shut up.

That doesn’t change if the head coach happens to be a former NFL player and/or a former teammate.

Have some respect for the officials, the opposing players and the parents of your sons’ teammates. And be aware of the responsibility that goes with representing the Steelers in public.

Sneak in and sneak out. Do whatever it takes to draw as little attention to yourself as possible. That would include not smoking cigars in a nonsmoking stadium and causing fans to leave their seats, which Tomlin and Porter are said to have done at a playoff game in Butler.

Comporting yourselves with dignity would seem like an even better idea when your boss is a graduate of the school where your kids are playing.

Dan Rooney is a North Catholic alum. So is Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, who’s on the Board of Directors.

Tomlin and Porter deciding to take their kids out of North Catholic could mean a fight over their eligibility next season.

Stay tuned.

• Now that the New England Patriots have done what they almost always do and knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs, here are some numbers from last week’s AFC Championship game:

Tom Brady completed 32 passes. Seventeen of them went less than five yards in the air. Nine of the 32 traveled more than 10 yards. Steelers fans are looking forward to the return of wide receiver Martavis Bryant because of his ability to stretch the field, but in New England, Coach Bill Belichick is getting reports on short, quick, sure-handed receivers who he can use to dink and dunk his opponents to death.

How can anyone who watched the Patriots’ offense not want to copy it? Belichick’s system is impossible to stop. If they had traded quarterbacks before the game, do you think the Steelers would have won with Tom Brady?

Not a chance.

In the first quarter, Brady threw a six-yard pass to Julian Edelman that turned into a 41-yard gain. Roethlisberger, on a third-and-one play on the Steelers’ first possession, threw a picture-perfect 40-yard pass to Sammy Coates down the sideline. It’s not humanly possible to throw a football any better.

Coates dropped it.

On the stat sheet, Brady is 1-1 for 41 yards, Roethlisberger is 0-1. When Brady wasn’t throwing passes to Edelman that could have been completed in your living room, he was completing passes to wide open former lacrosse player Chris Hogan.

Dink. Dunk. Super Bowl.

Brady might still be doing it when he’s 50.

John Steigerwald writes a weekly column for the Observer-Reporter