Leon "Bud" Carson's football career will come full circle Saturday night.

The 1948 Freeport High School graduate and former All-WPIAL tailback - who went on to coach at Georgia Tech and seven different NFL teams - will be one of 14 inductees into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame at the "Four Points" Pittsburgh Sheraton North in Warrendale.

The dinner begins at 6 p.m.

"I'm excited and honored about this," Carson, 74, said. "It's a Hall of Fame and it's back home. I'm looking forward to it."

The Yellowjackets used the single-wing when Carson played there and he was the starting tailback his last two years under coach Henry Furrie.

"The tailback in that offense ran the ball, punted, passed … did everything," Carson said. "I'm not saying I was the ideal person for the position, but it was the ideal position to play.

"We were good enough to make the playoffs, but got squeezed out because of points. Not many teams made it in those days."

Carson was good enough to get a scholarship to play at the University of North Carolina, a top-five ranked program then. He became an all-conference player there.

"It was lucky because very few football players from small schools ever got the chance to play college ball," Carson said.

Carson spent his entire career in football. He was an assistant coach at North Carolina for seven years, then served as defensive coordinator at South Carolina and Georgia Tech.

He eventually became head coach at Georgia Tech and was 25-25 over five seasons.

"I replaced Bobby Dodd there and my first three years were good," Carson said. "We went to bowl games, had a 9-2 record, then things changed.

"The Atlanta Braves and Falcons emerged and the lock Georgia Tech had on the city was over. They made our schedule tougher to attract bigger crowds and our record suffered."

Georgia Tech was 6-4 in Carson's final year there, went to the Peach Bowl and lost a lopsided decision to Mississippi.

"That spelled the end for me," Carson said.

It also marked the beginning of a stellar pro career. Carson joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1972 as a defensive coach, became their defensive coordinator and stayed with the team through the 1978 season.

Part of three Super Bowl teams with the Steelers, he left to become defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams - and coached against the Steelers in Super Bowl XIV.

Former Steeler defensive end Dwight White is also among the 14 inductees Saturday.

"That feels special to me because Dwight was a special player," Carson said.

"I had a chance to join a couple of other pro teams after leaving the college ranks, but friends of mine talked me into the Steelers because of their recent drafts. They told me they were going to be good.

"Besides, it was a chance to come home again," Carson added.

In retrospect, Carson said he never would have left the Steelers.

"I thought the grass was greener and it wasn't," he admitted. "Hindsight is always 20-20, but it was a mistake leaving that organization.

"Chuck Noll is such a class guy and he had a class team to work with. In my first 10 years in the NFL, I went to the playoffs nine times. But I still shouldn't have left."

Carson credited the type of coaching staff Noll put together with laying the ground work for the team's eventual Super Bowl success.

"We were all former college coaches with a lot of experience," he said. "A lot of other NFL teams back then had former NFL players who figured they could walk right on board as pro coaches - and those teams were getting their butts kicked.

"Cover 2 came from college football. So did a lot of other strategies and formations," Carson added. "Back in the day, pro football wasn't that big a deal. College football was huge."

Carson eventually became head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1989. His first regular season game as a head coach was a 51-0 trouncing of the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium.

"I'll never forget that game," Carson said. "It was strange standing on the other sideline - very strange."

The Browns finished 9-6-1 that year and lost the AFC title game to Denver for the second straight season.

After a 2-7 start in 1990, Carson was fired.

"We had a good team, but it was an old team that needed to made over," he said. "I stressed that in the off-season after that playoff loss. By the time they realized the team needed revamped, I was already fired.

"Being a head coach in the NFL is tricky business. You have to be hired at the right time and in the right situation to succeed. A lot of guys who went on to be great coaches might not have succeeded in Cleveland when I was there."

Carson's last full season as an NFL coach was in 1997 with Dick Vermeil and the St. Louis Rams. He came out of retirement for a half a season in 2000 to serve as a defensive consultant for Mike Martz and the Rams.

Looking back on his career, Carson preferred being a coordinator over a head coach.

"As a head coach, there's too many little things you have to take care of. You're always busy," he said. "It's nice coaching behind the scenes."

And it was especially nice coaching with the Steelers.

"When good players met up with a good coaching staff, great things happen," Carson said. "It's as simple as that."