On Tuesday the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they have hired Pat Meyer as the team’s new offensive line coach.
Meyer spent the last two seasons (2020-21) as the offensive line coach of the Carolina Panthers. Prior to that, he spent three years (2017-19) coaching the offensive line for the Los Angeles Chargers, with his tenure punctuated by his unit allowing an NFL-low 17 sacks in 2017.
Panthers Were 29th in Pass Block Win Rate in ’21
But as noted by Brooke Pryor of ESPN, the unit that Meyer coached in 2021 had only marginally more success than the offensive line Steelers fans watched in Pittsburgh, ranking 29th in the NFL in team pass block win rate and 26th in run block win rate, with the Steelers ranked 31st and 30th in those categories.
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Looking back further, Meyer was assistant offensive line coach with the Buffalo Bills in 2015-16, getting his start in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, serving as an assistant offensive line coach in 2013 before being named offensive line coach the following year.
He spent the 2012 season in the CFL as the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach with the Montreal Alouettes.
Prior to 2012, he was coaching in the college ranks, highlighted by four seasons (2008-11) at his alma mater, Colorado State, where he ascended from offensive line coach to run game coordinator to offensive coordinator. He also had stints at Florida State (2007), North Carolina State (2000-06) and Memphis (1999), where he was a strength and conditioning coach.
Before getting into coaching, Meyer was a three-time All-Western Athletic Conference guard for Colorado State from 1992-94. He played one season with the Arizona Cardinals (1995) and one with the St. Louis Stampede (1996) of the Arena Football League.
Meyer joins wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson in Pittsburgh, with both having spent the last two seasons with the Carolina Panthers.
Ongoing Instability at Pittsburgh’s Offensive Line Coach Positions
Meyer replaces Adrian Klemm as the Steelers’ offensive line coach, who “jumped ship” towards the end of the 2021 season, leaving Pittsburgh to accept a job as the University of Oregon’s offensive line coach, run game coordinator and assistant head coach.
Assistant offensive line coach Chris Morgan stepped up to fill the position vacated by Klemm and acquitted himself well, with head coach Mike Tomlin saying that the former Offensive Line Coach of the Year (PFF) had a “tremendous impact” after the Steelers rushed for 190 yards in the team’s first game with Morgan at the controls.
But at the beginning of February, Chicago hired Morgan to be its new offensive line coach, putting an end to speculation that he might remain as Pittsburgh’s offensive line coach going forward.
Morgan was with the Steelers for less than a calendar year, having been hired on February 8, 2021. He had been hired to support Klemm, who spent less than a year as offensive line coach, having been promoted in early February 2021 after two seasons as Pittsburgh’s assistant offensive line coach.
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Steelers Hire Ex-Panthers, Chargers Offensive Line Coach