Eight o'clock on a morning cold as Pittsburgh. John Mitchell, assistant head coach, Pittsburgh Steelers, is at his desk. It is March, according to my research, about six months from the nearest NFL game, but it's 8 in the morning, so John Mitchell is at his desk, same as yesterday, just like tomorrow.
And in no sense has he just arrived.
This is the start of his 29th season on the Steelers coaching staff, the longest active tenure in the building, as well as the beginning of his 50th season in a career he entered mostly to help pay for grad school.
