Robert “Woody” Widenhofer, a defensive assistant for the four Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers teams has died. Widenhofer was living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was 77. Widenhofer worked for the Steelers from 1973 to 1983, first serving as linebackers coach, then became the defensive coordinator in the Super Bowl season of 1979.
He left the Steelers to become the head coach of the Oklahoma Outlaws of the USFL. He would briefly return to the NFL, but finished his career in the college ranks. He was head coach at Missouri from 1985-to-1988, and Vanderbilt from 1997 to 2001. Widenhofer was born in Butler, but was raised in Detroit.