Burn injuries to coach upsetting to Steelers

Wide receiver Hines Ward said Kirby Wilson (pictured) was on the minds of all players Friday.

The Steelers are leaving today for Sunday's first-round playoff game in Denver without their ever-present running backs coach Kirby Wilson, who was hospitalized with severe burns he suffered when fire swept through his Seven Fields townhouse early Friday.

Mr. Wilson, 50, had burns on 30 percent to 50 percent of his body, injuries that are serious but not life-threatening, a team source said. He was flown to UPMC Mercy, where the source said he was in a medically induced coma to shield him from the pain.

Firefighters encountered heavy smoke, flames and a badly injured Mr. Wilson when they arrived at his townhouse on Jameson Way about 2:45 a.m. A neighbor, Dave VanAtta, said he awoke to the smell and pounded on Mr. Wilson's front door for about five minutes before the coach wandered out amid a billow of smoke, bleeding and disoriented.

"We talked to him to keep him calm," said another neighbor, Jim McCaffrey. "He just stood there saying, 'I'm OK, I'm OK, I'm fine.' We could tell he wasn't. It wasn't a pretty sight."

No one else was inside the house, where neighbors said Mr. Wilson had lived for about two years.

The news stunned the Steelers, whose president Art Rooney II said in a statement that the team's "thoughts and prayers are with Kirby and his entire family. We are saddened to hear about this unfortunate situation but we know that he has the best medical care in the country treating him. The entire organization is praying for Kirby to have a full recovery, and we will be by his side through this difficult time."

Mr. Wilson, in his fifth season as running backs coach, coached on the sidelines on game day. Offensive assistant Harold Goodwin, who gave running backs instructions at Friday's practice, will likely take over Mr. Wilson's game day responsibilities, too, said Isaac Redman, who will be the team's featured back this weekend.

"He's such a hard-working coach," Mr. Redman said. "He was always the first guy in the building. He was always here. He takes pride in the running backs."

At the request of doctors, coach Mike Tomlin discouraged players from visiting Mr. Wilson at the hospital, Mr. Redman said. Players learned of his injuries at a 9 a.m. team meeting, but his running backs had a feeling something was wrong when he did not show up for an early morning film session.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the state police fire marshal in the Butler barracks, but it did not appear to be suspicious, said Jeffrey Schueler, director of public safety in nearby Cranberry. Firefighters from there as well as Adams, Callery, Harmony, Zelienople and South Butler were called to extinguish the flames.

Mr. Schueler did not know where the fire started, but Mr. VanAtta said he could see the kitchen engulfed when he woke up. No other rental units in the sprawling Estates at Seven Fields subdivision were damaged. But neighbors struggled to get the image of Mr. Wilson's burned and bloodied face, feet and hands out of their minds.

They said he was a quiet neighbor who lived alone in the townhouse, although they sometimes saw him with his children. The team's media guide says Mr. Wilson has five children -- three sons and two daughters.

He was often away for games, so Mr. VanAtta wasn't sure whether he was there when he started knocking on the door early Friday.

Mr. Wilson started his coaching career in 1985 and has journeyed throughout the country at the collegiate and professional levels. He won two Super Bowls as a running backs coach -- the first with Tampa Bay in 2003 and again with the Steelers in 2009.

He spent one year at the University of Southern California as the Trojans wide receivers coach -- Troy Polamalu's junior year. Mr. Polamalu said he was the same coach then that he is now.

"You kind of get stuck in a groove where every day you come in and you anticipate seeing the same people," he said. "And all of the sudden, we encounter this circumstance, and it's tough."

The team's media guide credits Mr. Wilson as "instrumental" in running back Rashard Mendenhall's success in 2009, when he rushed for 1,108 yards with a team-high seven rushing touchdowns. Mr. Mendenhall will not be playing Sunday due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Wide receiver Hines Ward said Mr. Wilson was on the minds of all players Friday.

"You start to think more about his family than anything. I think football is second," he said. "Everyone on this team is thinking more of his family, his health and well-being."

Sadie Gurman: sgurman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878. Michael Sanserino: msanserino@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1722. Staff writer Gerry Dulac contributed.

First published on January 7, 2012 at 12:00 am

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12007/1201937-66-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml

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