1969 Pittsburgh Steelers season The 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers is what many consider to be the turning point of this once - moribund franchise . 1969 was the first season for Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Noll , the first season for defensive lineman " Mean Joe " Greene and L . C . Greenwood , the first season for longtime Steelers public relations director Joe Gordon , and the team ' s last season in Pitt Stadium before moving into the then - state - of - the - art Three Rivers Stadium the following season . Although considered a turning point in the team ' s history , the results were not immediate ; after winning the season opener against the Detroit Lions , the Steelers would go on to lose every game afterwards to finish 1 – 13 . The Steelers would become the first such team in NFL history to win its season opener and go on to lose every game remaining afterwards , a feat not matched until 2001 when the Carolina Panthers won its season opener against Minnesota before losing every game en route to a 1 – 15 finish . With the Steelers finishing 1 – 6 at Pitt Stadium , it would also mark the last time the Steelers would finish the season with a losing record at home until 1999 . As a result of the 1 – 13 record , the Steelers finished tied with the Chicago Bears for the league ' s worst record . Art Rooney would win a coin toss with George Halas to determine who would select Louisiana Tech quarterback Terry Bradshaw ( the consensus number 1 selection among league teams ) with the number one pick in the 1970 draft . By modern NFL tiebreaking rules , the Steelers would have automatically been given the first pick anyway , as the Bears ' one win came against the Steelers in week 8 . Offseason . This was the first season of Chuck Noll as head coach of the Steelers . Noll , the former defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Colts who was hired just days after the Colts loss to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III , was the team ' s 14th head coach in the franchise ' s history up to that point . But while it took 36 seasons to go through the first 13 , Noll would stay through 1991 and would set the ground for coaching stability for the Steelers not seen in other NFL franchises today . Since Noll ' s retirement , only Bill Cowher and current head coach Mike Tomlin have been head coach of the Steelers . One of Noll ' s first action was to release or trade all players he considered " dead wood " to the team . He wanted only players willing to give their best effort to the team . Only a handful of players were carried over from the 1968 squad as a result , most notably veterans Ben McGee , Andy Russell , Ray Mansfield , and Dick Hoak , the ladder of which would become the team ' s running backs coach a few years later and would remain with the team in that capacity through the 2006 season . Rocky Bleier , who played his rookie season the year before and would later be a major contributor to the Super Bowl championship teams , was fighting in Vietnam during this time and would actually be wounded in combat just before the start of the season . This method of going through the " dead wood " of the team would be a similar practice that Marvin Lewis would do when he took over as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach in 2003 . While the Steelers just missed out on drafting Heisman Trophy winner O . J . Simpson , Noll would use his first draft pick wisely , drafting North Texas State defensive tackle Joe Greene with the team ' s top pick , and fourth pick overall in that year ' s draft . Noll would say years later that Greene would ' ve been selected even if they had the top overall pick , passing over Simpson . Although Simpson himself would also go on to a Hall of Fame career before legal troubles overshadowed his NFL accomplishments , this would set the groundwork of the Steelers excellent scouting in the draft , a practice that carries today . Greene ' s selection would not be met without controversy , however . The front page of the " Pittsburgh Post - Gazette " the next morning had a headline posted " Who ' s Joe Greene " ? , owing to his relative obscurity despite being named a consensus All - American selection his senior year . The team would also go on to draft Greene ' s defensive line mate , Arkansas AM & N defensive end L . C . Greenwood , in the 10th round . Greene and Greenwood would form the core of the famed Steel Curtain defensive line and would play their entire career as teammates , with both retiring at the end of the 1981 season . The following year , Noll would switch the team to a 3 – 4 defense , partially as a result of the retirement of two of his best defensive players . Joe Gordon was also hired as the team ' s public relations director this season . Though his role was more behind - the - scenes , he would remain with the team in that capacity through the 1998 season , second only to Dick Hoak in terms of tenure with the team outside of the Rooney family , third counting Steelers radio commentator Myron Cope , who was not employed by the team but through WTAE Radio and later WDVE on the official Steelers radio network . Regular season . Game summaries . Week 1 ( Sunday September 21 , 1969 ) : Detroit Lions . " at Pitt Stadium , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 2 ( Sunday September 28 , 1969 ) : Philadelphia Eagles . " at Franklin Field , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 3 ( Sunday October 5 , 1969 ) : St . Louis Cardinals . " at Pitt Stadium , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 4 ( Sunday October 12 , 1969 ) : New York Giants . " at Yankee Stadium , The Bronx , New York " Scoring Drives : Week 5 ( Saturday October 18 , 1969 ) : Cleveland Browns . " at Cleveland Municipal Stadium , Cleveland , Ohio " Scoring Drives : Week 6 ( Sunday October 26 , 1969 ) : Washington Redskins . " at Pitt Stadium , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 7 ( Sunday November 2 , 1969 ) : Green Bay Packers . " at Pitt Stadium , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 8 ( Sunday November 9 , 1969 ) : Chicago Bears . " at Wrigley Field , Chicago , Illinois " Scoring Drives : Week 9 ( Sunday November 16 , 1969 ) : Cleveland Browns . " at Pitt Stadium , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 10 ( Sunday November 23 , 1969 ) : Minnesota Vikings . " at Metropolitan Stadium , Bloomington , Minnesota " Scoring Drives : Week 11 ( Sunday November 30 , 1969 ) : St . Louis Cardinals . " at Busch Memorial Stadium , St . Louis , Missouri " Scoring Drives : Week 12 ( Sunday December 7 , 1969 ) : Dallas Cowboys . " at Pitt Stadium , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 13 ( Sunday December 14 , 1969 ) : New York Giants . " at Pitt Stadium , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 14 ( Sunday December 21 , 1969 ) : New Orleans Saints . " at Tulane Stadium , New Orleans , Louisiana " Scoring Drives :