Larry Zierlein (born July 12, 1945) is a long-time

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach at high school, college, and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

Biography

Zierlein grew up in

Lenora, Kansas Lenora is a city in Norton County, Kansas, Norton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 207. History Lenora was founded in 1873. It was named for Mrs. Lenora Hauser, a pi ...

. After spending two years in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

from 1966 to 1968, including a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1967, he attended Fort Hays State College. He played defensive end for Fort Hays State in 1969 before graduating in 1971.

Coaching career

Zierlein embarked on his coaching career as a graduate assistant and linebackers coach at his alma mater in 1970. After two years coaching at Fort Hays State, he spent the following six seasons (1972–1977) as a high school assistant in Texas. In 1978, he returned to the college game at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

where he served as offensive line coach for nine seasons. In 1987, he got his first professional experience as an assistant with the

Washington Commandos The Washington Commandos were an arena football team based in Fairfax, Virginia. The Commandos were founded in 1987 and were an inaugural member of the Arena Football League (AFL), and were based in Landover, Maryland. After not playing during t ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. When the Commandos went on hiatus the next year, Zierlein took a job at

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

where he worked the next three seasons before returning to the pro ranks with the

New York/New Jersey Knights The New York/New Jersey Knights was a franchise in the World League of American Football for the 1991 and 1992 seasons. They played in the North American East division, which they won in the 1991 season. They were coached by Mouse Davis, an archit ...

of the

's development league, the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. With the Knights he held the title of

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

under

Mouse Davis Darrel "Mouse" Davis (born September 6, 1932) is a retired American football coach and former player. A veteran coach at the high school, college, and professional levels, he last coached with Jerry Glanville at Portland State and with June Jon ...

as well as coaching the offensive line. When the Knights folded in 1992, Zierlein once more headed back to college, this time at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. Zierlein spent two years at LSU, coaching the offensive line under head coach

Curley Hallman Hudson "Curley" Hallman (born September 3, 1947) is a former American football player and current coach. He was hired as the Defensive Cooridinator for the University of Alabama on January 13, 2023. He served as the head coach at the University of ...

. In 1995, he returned to Tulane, this time for what would be a two-year stint under

Tommy Bowden Tommy Pearce Bowden (; born July 10, 1954) is a former American football coach. He served as the head coach at Clemson University from 1999 until October 13, 2008. He is a son of Bobby Bowden, former head football coach of Florida State Universi ...

. In 1997, he moved on to the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

as the running game coordinator and offensive line coach under

Rick Minter Rick Minter (born October 4, 1954) is an American football coach, most recently the defensive coordinator for the Birmingham Iron. He was the linebackers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) from February 2013 to ...

. In 2001, Zierlein gained his first NFL experience with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. He served for four seasons as the Browns' offensive line coach under the

Butch Davis Paul Hilton "Butch" Davis Jr. (born November 17, 1951) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Florida International University. After graduating from the University of Arkansas, he became an assistant col ...

regime. Zierlein's current

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

colleague

Bruce Arians Bruce Charles Arians (born October 3, 1952) is an American football executive and former coach in the National Football League (NFL). Since 2022, he has been a senior football consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arians was previously the he ...

served as the offensive coordinator for the first three of Zierlein's seasons at Cleveland. He returned from a one-year absence from football in 2006 as the assistant offensive line coach for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

under

Dick Jauron Richard Manuel Jauron (born October 7, 1950) is a former American football player and coach. He played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL), five with the Detroit Lions and three with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jauron served as the he ...

. When

Mike Tomlin Michael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, se ...

was hired as the Steelers new head coach in 2007, he brought Zierlein to Pittsburgh to coach the offensive line. Tomlin and Zierlein had previously worked together in 1999–2000 with the Cincinnati Bearcats. Steelers assistant special teams coach

Amos Jones Amos Jones (born December 31, 1959) is an American football coach who is the assistant coach of special projects & situations for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). College playing career Jones played safety and running ...

was also a member of that Bearcats coaching staff. Zierlein was relieved of his duties with the Steelers on January 6, 2010.

E-mail gaffe

Zierlein gained unwanted notoriety in 2007 when he mistakenly forwarded an e-mail to a large number of high-level NFL employees, including

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Roger Goodell Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who is currently the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). On August 8, 2006, Goodell was chosen to succeed retiring commissioner Paul Tagliabue. He was chosen ...

. The e-mail, which Zierlein had received from Steelers pro personnel coordinator

Doug Whaley Douglass G. Whaley (born December 16, 1972) is an American football executive and former collegiate player. He is the current Senior Vice President of Player Personnel for the XFL and from 2013 to 2017 was the general manager of the Buffalo B ...

, contained an inappropriate video. Zierlein apologized for the gaffe, but was not disciplined by the team or the league.

Personal life

Zierlein and his wife, Marcia, have three children and several grandchildren. Their son

Lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...

is a

sports talk radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

host at

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

's " Sports talk 790" and a writer for ''

NFL.com The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

''. Their son Mike (Lance's brother) is the assistant football coach at Cypress Ridge High School in Houston, Texas.

References

External links

A Closer Look at Larry Zierlein's Career
Behind the Steel Curtain (a Pittsburgh Steelers blog), June 30, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zierlein, Larry 1945 births Living people American football defensive ends Buffalo Bills coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Fort Hays State Tigers football coaches Fort Hays State Tigers football players Hartford Colonials coaches Houston Cougars football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Washington Commandos coaches NFL Europe (WLAF) coaches High school football coaches in Texas United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers People from Norton County, Kansas Players of American football from Kansas People from Norton, Kansas United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Sacramento Mountain Lions coaches Arizona Cardinals coaches