A trailblazer at a storied football school who later became a fixture with a storied NFL franchise, Pittsburgh Steelers assistant head coach John Mitchell announced his retirement last month.
Mitchell will continue with the Steelers until the end of April. But it’s not like he is counting the days until he returns to Birmingham, Ala., where he owns a home, for good.
“I tell people today, ‘If you ever get a chance to work for the Pittsburgh Steelers, if you don’t take it you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life,’ ” Mitchell told me recently. “This was a special place to be.