| The Steelers named Mike Mularkey their offensive coordinator in 2001. He had been considered for the position a year earlier but the organization decided on Ray Sherman. After one season, it was decided that Sherman's West Coast type of offense was not a good fit for the team, opening the door for Mularkey. Since then, he's become known for his philosophy of balancing the run and pass, and utilizing as many players as possible to move the ball, often through the use of his innovative "gadget" plays.
After playing college football at the University of Florida, Mike entered the NFL as a nine-round draft pick of San Francisco in 1983, was waived by them, and picked up by Minnesota where he stayed for the next 6 seasons, playing tight end. In 1989 the Steelers signed him as a plan B free agent, one of the very few free agent signings that they made during that period. His first year, Mularkey was about as productive in receptions that a tight end could be with the Steelers, who rarely threw to the tight end. Then, the Steelers drafted tight end Eric Green in 1990 and began using two tight end sets with Green and Mularkey. Even though Eric Green became the starting tight end his rookie season, Mularkey would see significant playing time with the Steelers until a knee injury ended his playing career in 1991. For his career in the NFL, he had 102 receptions for 1,222 yards and 9 touchdows
Mike spent one year coaching the offensive line at Concordia College, then moved into NFL coaching in 1994, at Tampa Bay as a quality control coach who would scout the offensive and defensive tendencies of opponent teams. In 1995 he became their tight ends coach. When the same position became open in Pittsburgh in 1996, he took advantage of the opportunity to return to the Steelers. After 5 years as the tight end coach, he became the offensive coordinator in 2001.
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