Eight Potential Steelers Linebackers Coach Candidates

Pittsburgh Steelers ILB Coach Candidate Antonio Pierce
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

The Pittsburgh Steelers need a new linebackers coach, after the news broke late last week that Aaron Curry will not be returning after two seasons with the club.

What are the options out the for the Steelers to replace him with? Let’s dive in:

Jerod Mayo, Former New England Patriots Head Coach

Jerod Mayo spent four years as an inside linebackers coach with the New England Patriots before being promoted to head coach in 2024. That promotion didn’t go very well, with the Pats finishing near the bottom of the NFL. Mayo was fired after one season.

But the 38-year-old remains a coach on positive trajectory. The Patriots did not have near enough talent to compete in 2024, and owner Robert Kraft acknowledged as much, despite firing Mayo. The big question is whether he’d take same two steps back down to linebackers coach that he took on the way up.

The Steelers have mined from the Belichick coaching tree in the past when they hired Brian Flores, and Mayo would be another coach in that same mold coming to Pittsburgh.

Antonio Pierce, Former Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A young coach was promoted straight from linebackers coach to head coach and then fired a year later. The Las Vegas Raiders did basically the same thing to Antonio Pierce that the Patriots did to Mayo, with a couple of key differences.

Pierce was actually first hired as the interim head coach after Josh McDaniels was fired mid-season in 2023, so he had to earn his full-time spot, instead of having it worked into his contract like Mayo did.

Pierce, 46, is also more experienced as a coach. He spent four seasons at Arizona State, rising to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator before taking his first job with the Raiders in 2022.

The same questions remain about whether Piece would be willing to accept such a job, but either he or Mayo would be a home-run hire.

Mike Caldwell, Former Las Vegas Raiders Linebackers Coach

Mike Caldwell was not retained as the Raiders changed over from Pierce to Pete Carroll, and he could also be an option for the Steelers. The former NFL linebacker is the kind of well-traveled NFL assistant that seems to be Mike Tomlin’s preference lately.

Before two seasons with the Raiders, he was defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Before that, he was a linebackers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2019-21, inside linebackers coach and assistant head coach with the New York Jets from 2015-18, inside linebackers coach for the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-14 and linebackers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2011-12.

Scott McCurley, Former Dallas Cowboys Linebackers Coach

A New Castle native and Mohawk and Pitt  alum, this would be a return home for Scott McCurley. He has spent the last five seasons as linebackers coach under Mike McCarthy for the Dallas Cowboys. Before that, eh worked for McCarthy as an intern, quality control coach, defensive assistant and assistant linebackers coach in Green Bay from 2006-18. The Cowboys did not retain McCurley as part of the changeover of their coaching staff.

Matt House, Jacksonville Jaguars Linebackers Coach

Matt House was a secondary coach and defensive coordinator at Pitt from 2012-14, and while those weren’t banner years for the Panthers defense, things have gone better for hi lately. House won a Super Bowl ring as the linebackers coach of the Kansas City Chiefs from 2019-21. Since then, he’s spent two seasons as the LSU defensive coordinator under Brian Kelly and then one as the inside linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s not clear what the Jaguars have planned for their coaching staff under new DC Anthony Campanile.

Dont’a Hightower, New England Patriots Linebackers Coach

The Steelers once famously tried to acquire Dont’a Hightower as a free agent during his playing career. Maybe they’ll reunite with him as a coach. Hightower spent one season with the New England Patriots as inside linebackers coach before Mayo’s staff was scattered. New England has not officially announced their plans for a linebackers coach in 2025.

Pittsburgh Steelers cach Ryan Shazier
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Ryan Shaizer before a game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 8, 2024. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now

Ryan Shazier, Pittsburgh Steelers Coaching Assistant

Ryan Shazier was a Steelers inside linebacker from 2014, when the team made him the No. 15 overall pick in the NFL Draft, until his career-ending back injury in 2017. Shazier spent lots of time around the team in the years following his injury, but just officially joined the coaching staff in 2024, when he served as the de facto assistant running backs coach, helping Eddie Faulkner run his group’s practices daily.

Vince Williams, Pittsburgh Steelers Coaching Assistant

Vince Williams was Shazier’s running mate at linebacker for the Steelers, and played for the team from 2013-20. He has served as linebackers coach at Pine-Richland for three seasons, and this year he joined the Steelers staff as a de facto assistant defensive line coach under Karl Dunbar.

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