Mike Logan can’t say he expected Troy Polamalu to go down in the annals of NFL history as one of the greatest defensive players of his era. Logan can’t say he’s surprised, either. Reflecting on the time they spent together as Pittsburgh Steelers’ safeties [on the Kaboly + Mack podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDwO3XQFIno), Logan knew Polamalu would be great. So long as he focused on the right things.
“The tutelage that I was able to offer him was more in friendship and brotherhood,” he told the show’s Mark Kaboly and Chris Mack. “About him getting into the league and learning how to handle himself. I think he held out for like two or three days during training camp, and he didn’t want to do that. And I was walking him through the business of it. Let your agent do his job and all of that type of stuff. When it came to the football stuff, all of it was verbiage and him just settling down.
“He came in trying to do so much because the expectations were so high on him.”
Polamalu missed the first two days of training camp, a common occurrence in an era when rookie contracts had few of the guardrails they do today. Pittsburgh made the rare move to trade up for him in the first round, creating big expectations along the way. A veteran like Logan calmed him down. Signing with the Steelers for the 2001 season, Logan mentored but competed with Polamalu for the starting job. Logan told the show Polamalu “challenged” him to get better.
“One of my greatest accomplishments during that time was being able to go to training camp and have my best training camp that I ever had in my whole career. And then being able to be named the opening day starter, even that year when Troy came in.”
In 2003, Logan beat out Polamalu for the starting job opposite Brent Alexander and put together a strong season. He set a career high with 94 tackles, third on the team behind linebackers James Farrior and Kendrell Bell. But Logan could only hold off a talent like Polamalu for so long and when Dick LeBeau returned as the Steelers’ defensive coordinator in 2004, he unlocked Polamalu’s game.
“It only took a few games…Dick LeBeau was like, ‘Troy is going to be starting.'”
Polamalu started all 16 games of the Steelers’ impressive 2004 season and never looked back. Behind him and up-and-comer Chris Hope, Logan fell into a reserve role the next three seasons, starting just one game. But he was part of Pittsburgh’s 2005 Super Bowl run, earning a ring with the Steelers’ win over the Detroit Lions in Super Bowl XL.
The story became a homecoming for Detroit-native Jerome Bettis. Still, it was special for Logan, a Pittsburgh kid who attended McKeesport High School, winning a Lombardi for his hometown team—the first since the [1970s dynasty squads.](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/05/best-of-the-dynasty-top-squad-of-1970s-steelers-revealed/)
Logan spent the 2006 season with the Steelers before wrapping up his career. In six years with Pittsburgh, he recorded 229 tackles, three interceptions, and 3.5 sacks. In total, he spent a decade in the NFL, a feat most players don’t come close to achieving.
Some veterans won’t help rookies. After all, they’re new blood added to take jobs. Logan had the right approach. Teach and mentor, but compete. Iron sharpening iron. Logan or not, Polamalu was going to be a great player. But even legends need a little help. Logan provided that and, in turn, made himself better by working alongside Polamalu each day.