JERRY OLSAVSKY \ Former Steeler

Education: Chaney High, University of Pittsburgh.

Family: Wife Rayme; children Jake, Dominic and Emma.

NFL career: Pittsburgh Steelers, 1989-97; Baltimore Ravens, 1998. In 1995, he was the Steelers’ Ed Block Courage Award recipient for outstanding on-field performance despite overcoming personal obstacles. That year, he started in the AFC Championship Game against the Colts. His best season came in 1996 when he finished with 63 tackles and started playoff games against Indianapolis and New England.

Today: Youngstown State University assistant football coach (linebackers).

Pittsburgh memories: “I don’t think I appreciated it enough while I was playing,” said Olsavsky who remained in the same city after college. “I did appreciate being in the same city because my first year, I was a 10th-round pick. I just lived with some of my roommates from Pitt for about two months during the season. It was great because I could still go to all the [regular] places.” Olsavsky played in Super Bowl XXX on Jan. 28, 1996. “It was a great experience and I can tell my kids about it.”

Memorable coaches: “I consider myself lucky because I got to experience Chuck Noll for three years and Bill Cowher for six years.” Marvin Lewis, the Cincinnati Bengals head coach today, was a linebackers coach for the Steelers in the mid 1990s. “He treated everyone the same. I loved him because if I asked him an obscure question to help me in the game, he would find the answer for me. That would ease my mind.”

Dick LeBeau: The Steelers’ defensive coordinator today had the same job in the mid-1990s. (In between, he was the Cincinnati Bengals head coach.) “He’s a great guy just to be around. He’s 71 years old, he’s a scratch golfer, he looks younger than me, he has all his hair, he’s a Renaissance Man.” Olsavsky suspects that the Steelers defensive coordinator is using the same terms today. “If I went into a meeting today he would be saying the same words. At the snap, it [might] look a little different than when we used to line up and play but everything is called the same. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the signals are the same. You’re not going to teach an old dog new tricks.”

Responsibility: “They have a great defense,” Olsavsky said of the Steelers. “Coach LeBeau used to tell us all the time [that] we can’t have a bad day. On defense, you can’t have a bad day. The weather doesn’t affect you, a pass here or there can’t affect you.”