Steelers Hire Ex-Falcons Coach, NFL Quarterback as Offensive Assistant

The Pittsburgh Steelers have hired Matt Baker as an offensive assistant, according to the team’s official website, giving them two staff members with that title for the 2024 season.

Baker, 40, comes to the Steelers from the Atlanta Falcons, where he was on the staff of new Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Baker served as a special teams assistant in Atlanta, but will move back to the offensive side of the ball in Pittsburgh, where his background lies.

An East Lansing, Michigan native, Baker was a quarterback for North Carolina from 2002-05, leading the ACC in passing his senior year. He spent four seasons in the NFL, bouncing around between the practice squads and off-season rosters of the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills from 2006-09 without playing in a regular-season game.

Baker got his start in coaching in 2010 as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss and then spent a long time working out of football, working in energy related fields. He got back into coaching in 2019 as an offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach at Western Michigan and then was hired as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at Division III John Carroll University. 

JCU is a veritable football coaching and executive factory, with alumni that include NFL GMs Tom Telesco and Nick Caserio and coaches Greg Roman, Brandon Staley, Josh McDaniels and Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth, who was offensive coordinator and head coach for the Blue Streaks from 2010-16.

Baker spent three years at John Carroll before being hired by Smith for his one season with the Falcons.

It’s not clear exactly what role Baker will provide the Steelers, but it will likely involve the development of the team’s quarterbacks. Baker becomes the second former professional quarterback on the coaching staff, joining Arth, after the team had none in 2023.  The Steelers have also hired Mateo Kambui, another former Falcons assistant, with the title of offensive assistant. Kambui has worked with running backs, tight ends and offensive linemen at his previous stops. The Steelers had one coach with that title in 2023, Glenn Thomas, who left for a job at Nebraska.