NFL · 17 minutes ago

Aaron Rodgers as a Coach? The Question That Stunned Three Veteran Steelers Off Guard

Bo Marchionte

Host · Writer

The Question That Both Stunned and Caused Steelers to Laugh

Pittsburgh, PA – The question landed, and before anybody really answered it, the faces did.

Pat Freiermuth smiled.

Nick Herbig looked at me like I had just suggested something completely absurd.

Cameron Heyward laughed.

Three different Steelers. Three variations of the same initial reaction.

Aaron Rodgers? Coaching?

Heyward barely entertained the possibility.

“Aaron likes his life too much to coach,” Heyward said. “There is a graveyard for all of us, and if you want to subject yourself to more pain and hurt, as I watch these coaches go through, yeah, I don’t. He wants to go tan on the beach somewhere.”

And that reaction might be the best part of the story.

The question was admittedly a little off the beaten path. Nobody was asking about coverages, protections, third downs or what Rodgers saw from a safety rotating after the snap.

Instead, I asked Freiermuth, Heyward and Herbig whether they could envision Rodgers becoming a coach when his playing career finally ends.

None of them appeared to have ever considered it.

That’s fascinating because Rodgers already does so much of the job.

There seemingly isn’t a nook or cranny inside the Steelers’ locker room where Rodgers can’t offer something useful.

His football knowledge isn’t quarantined inside the quarterback room. He talks to receivers about routes and leverage.

He can offer a tight end another perspective on what he’s seeing. He can talk football with defensive players who have spent their careers trying to make quarterbacks miserable.

Hall of Fame Awaits

Rodgers has accumulated 66,274 passing yards and 527 touchdown passes over 21 NFL seasons. He’s a four-time league MVP. Last season, at 42, he still completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and only seven interceptions for Pittsburgh.

That is an awful lot of football stored between the ears.

And the Steelers have been beneficiaries of it.

So, when Rodgers has talked about the finish line of his playing career, the thought occurred: What happens to all of that football knowledge when No. 8 finally takes the helmet off?

Would he ever consider coaching?

That was one vote for sunscreen over a headset.

Freiermuth didn’t question whether Rodgers could do it. Quite the opposite.

“I mean, yeah. If he wanted to do it, absolutely,” Freiermuth said. “He absolutely can do whatever he wants. Do I think he will? Probably not. But he would be one hell of a head coach.”

Something They’ve Never Heard

Had the possibility ever even become a joke among the players?

“No, no.”

Apparently, Rodgers’ future coaching career hadn’t reached the rumor stage inside his own locker room.

Then came Herbig.

“Aaron?” Herbig said. “Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”

There was no need to check the replay.

Herbig sees a retirement plan remarkably similar to Heyward’s.

“Absolutely, he’s gonna be golfing at the beach,” Herbig said. “He’s gonna be doing all types of fun stuff.”

There was, however, an important distinction running through all three answers.

They weren’t laughing at the idea that Rodgers could coach.

They were laughing at the idea that he’d actually want to.

Herbig acknowledged that Rodgers would have something to offer from the sideline, although perhaps with a little volatility attached.

“Yeah, he would be a hell of a coach,” Herbig said. “He has a bit of a temper, so I don’t know how that would fare, but he would be a hell of a coach. I just don’t see it happening.”

And there it was.

Three players in unison and surprised by the question of Rodgers coaching.

Rodgers has the resume.

He has the football IQ.

He has credibility.

More importantly, the Steelers see firsthand that he has the willingness to share what he’s learned rather than hoard it.

The guy has spent more than two decades dissecting NFL defenses. Pittsburgh gets access to that database every day.

That sounds an awful lot like coaching.

Apparently, just don’t expect Rodgers to make it official.

When this thing is over, his teammates don’t envision a whistle around his neck, a play sheet in his hand or 4:30 a.m. arrivals at a football facility.

They see a golf club.

A beach.

Maybe a tan.

After 22 NFL seasons, perhaps Rodgers’ next great read will simply be figuring out which direction the Caribbean water looks best from his chair.