By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

Darren Perry has seen both sides of the Super Bowl.

He started in the Steelers secondary in Super Bowl XXX against the Dallas Cowboys. It was an incredible experience, but losing 27-17 to the Cowboys left him with the yearning to get back.

This year, he was able to do that, but in a different role as the team's defensive backs coach. He was on the sidelines coaching and not on the field playing, but it didn't matter to him as the win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL was perfect just the way it was.

"It was a sense of accomplishment, almost disbelief," said Perry. "Over the years everything you do, starting with the off-season and drafting players and free agency, then training camp, practice, meetings, getting the guys ready - is all geared toward winning the championship. So many years you don't make it there. Now it was like, wow, we did it. It was a sense of disbelief. It was indescribable."

The feeling only got better when he headed into the locker room and got to share holding the Lombardi Trophy with the players he coaches. It was a defining moment for him, the chance to hold onto a trophy that he has seen other NFL players and coaches pass around while watching past Super Bowl games. And for someone who walks by the trophies won by the team in the 1970s every day, it was special to have a part in bringing this one home.

"You walk into this building and you see them sitting in the library," said Perry of the team's previous four trophies. "You don't go in there and touch them. You walk by and say, wow, those are the four Super Bowl trophies. But to be able to hold it, take pictures with it and share it with your guys was a tremendous experience."

When Perry returned to Pittsburgh following the game, his voice mail was filled with messages of congratulations, many of them coming from his former teammates. He was happy to hear from them, but at the same time felt bad that many of them didn't have the chance to experience the thrill of a Super Bowl win.

"Randy Fuller called and just wanted to know what it felt like. He wanted to know about the experience," said Perry. "That's when you really start thinking about those guys who worked so hard to try to win it.

"You feel for the guys who didn't get the chance to experience what I was experiencing. Even though you are coaching, just being the fact that we are World Champions. I thought in 1995 we had great talent and we should have won. You think about those guys not being able to experience the joy you are experiencing right now. You think about those guys that worked so hard and didn't get to experience the joy you felt when the clock read zero."

While he has had some time to enjoy the thrill of victory, the coaches have had to get back to work pretty fast. Free agency is rapidly approaching, the draft isn't that far off, and the NFL scouting combine is taking place now in Indianapolis. The coaches have been spending their time reviewing tapes of players, evaluating them and writing reports. Perry will leave on Saturday for the combine, where all of the coaches will spend some time over the next few days.

"We are behind the eight-ball a little bit on free agency so we have to catch up," said Perry. "We are doing that and getting ready for the draft. We take care of free agency first and then start meeting for the draft right after that.

"You want to enjoy it. You learn it all comes with the territory. You enjoy things and put it behind you because there is always something else coming up. We had a week off to enjoy it and savor it, and we still are, but it takes a back seat to the work you have to get done."

One thing that Perry isn't looking forward to is what could happen in free agency. The Steelers are a tight knit group and the goal always is to keep as many players as possible. But it's not always a reality. Some players want to test the waters and see what is out there. 

"I think we have a great nucleus here, the guys are close and they want to stay together," said Perry. "That's the tough part about each season. You are probably going to lose some guys you don't want to lose. You just hope it doesn't happen, but it is reality. I am hoping we can keep everyone together.

"I told Tyrone Carter when he first came here that this will be unlike any other team he has been with because we were a close group and sincere. That's how it is here. I think that makes for better unity and environment as far as learning. You spend a lot of time together and liking each other makes it better."