I've known some of the obvious connections between the Steelers and DU for a long time:
1. The Chief (Art Rooney) and Dan Rooney are both Duquesne graduates.

2. Elmer Layden, he of the Notre Dame Four Horsemen fame (epic writing by Grantland Rice), was one of the first DU football coaches and also coached the Steelers. Layden also spent five years as NFL commissioner. While coaching Duquesne, if I'm not mistaken, Layden was the first coach to use numbers on jerseys. Layden was the first Orange Bowl-winning coach, too.

3. The litany of Dukes who were drafted by/played for the Steelers (Mike Basrak, Buff Donnelli, just to name two). Donnelli went on to coach both Duquesne and the Steelers at the same time, until Commissioner Layden made him choose between the two (he chose the Dukes).

4. The contribution that the Rooney family made to Duquesne so that Rooney Field could be built.

5. Bill Hillgrove, the voice of the Steelers, is a DU graduate.

6. Former Steelers DB Dwayne Woodruff was graduated from Duquesne Law School.

7. Terry Bradshaw took guitar lessons at Duquesne.

Here is one I did not know.

Chuck Noll's best friend while he was coaching the Steelers was none other than our own John "Red" Manning.

Their wives became friends playing tennis, and both couples attended the same church. When they met, Red was coaching the Dukes. Red & his wife used to sit with Chuck's wife at home games.

I always wondered, back in the day, why Steelers players would attend the Dukes' tipoff dinner. I got to meet Lynn Swan once, and looking back I remember Red introducing me to him and Red seeming to know Swan pretty well.

PS, I read this in the Chuck Noll biography that I'm reading. There is a photo of the Nolls and Mannings hanging out.