Jerry Olsavsky Out as Steelers ILBs Coach; Aaron Curry Officially Hired

The Steelers have announced that they have hired Aaron Curry as the team’s new official inside linebackers coach and longtime mainstay Jerry Olsavsky has been removed from the staff website, signaling his departure from the position.

The move is a surprise, as Jerry Olsavsky had been with the Steelers since the 2015 season as the inside linebackers coach and since the 2010 season as an assistant in various capacities. Olsavsky played for the Steelers from 1989 to 1997, so this departure comes as a stark surprise.

Curry, meanwhile, will coach inside linebackers for the first time in his young coaching career. Previously, Curry coached up the Seahawks’ edge rushers, but they ran a 3-4 defense, so many of the principles should carry over to the Steelers’ defense, even if this is a new experience for Curry.

Curry was a first-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks as an inside linebacker in 2009, but switched to coaching after fizzling out as a player. As a player, Curry got his start at Charlotte, where he graduated from a graduate assistant to the defensive line coach. But he would join Pete Carroll’s staff in Seattle shortly thereafter, rising up the ranks to a defensive assistant since joining the organization in 2019.

Now, with the departure of Olsavsky, the Steelers have only five defensive coaches, not counting Mike Tomlin. They have only 16 coaches overall, making their staff one of the smallest in the entire NFL. That has held for the most part under Tomlin, so it is not that surprising. But Olsavsky’s departure is surprising, having been a mainstay on the staff for over a decade.

Now, Curry, 36, will become the youngest proper position coach on the staff. It is an addition of some needed young blood for the Steelers on their coaching staff and he sees to try and change the inside linebacker room for the better.