The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new wide receivers coach under Mike McCarthy. NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reported McCarthy made Adam Henry his first coaching staff hire in Pittsburgh as receivers coach.
The Steelers will also have a new defensive coordinator.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported Wednesday the Steelers are “close to bringing in” Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator. Graham held the same role for the Las Vegas Raiders the past four seasons.
Dulac also reported Wednesday afternoon McCarthy plans to keep three Steelers assistants who worked under Mike Tomlin.
Those three assistants are linebackers coach Scott McCurley, quarterbacks coach Tom Arth and secondary coach Gerald Alexander.
Patrick Graham to Become Next Steelers Defensive Coordinator: Report
There’s obviously still several openings to fill on Pittsburgh’s coaching staff. But it didn’t take long for McCarthy to find a defensive coordinator.
Steelers insider Mark Kaboly reported Tuesday the team planned to interview Graham and former Steelers defensive back Jason Simmons, who played for the Steelers from 1998-2001.
Less than 24 hours after that report, the Steelers hired Graham.
The 47-year-old coach will arrive in Pittsburgh with seven years of defensive coordinator experience. In addition to four years with Las Vegas, Graham was defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins in 2019 and the New York Giants from 2020-21.
Last season in Las Vegas, Graham’s defense was ranked 14th in yards allowed but 25th in points yielded. His best Raiders unit statistically was 2023 when they were 15th in total defense and ninth in points allowed.
Graham remained the Raiders defensive coordinator for four years despite the team going through two head coaching changes. The fact multiple head coaches kept him in Las Vegas is a great sign.
But Graham’s units have never been stellar from a statistical standpoint. His defenses have yet to finish better than ninth in points allowed or 12th in yards allowed.
His Giants defense in 2020 was 10th in takeaways. Last season, the Raiders were 23rd in takeaways under Graham.
Steelers Keeping 3 Assistants: Report
On Sunday, Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora predicted McCarthy could keep two assistants from Tomlin’s last coaching staff. Kozora nailed the projection, which was McCurley and Arth.
Both McCurley and Arth have previous experience either coaching or playing for McCarthy. Alexander is also staying on McCarthy’s first staff.
McCurley joined the Steelers as linebackers coach last year. From 2006-18, he held various roles for the Green Bay Packers. Those years directly coincided with McCarthy’s tenure as the team’s head coach.
From 2020-24, McCurley coached linebackers for the Dallas Cowboys under McCarthy again. McCurley coached inside linebackers under Tomlin last season.
Arth spent time on the Packers practice squad as a quarterback in McCarthy’s first season as head coach during 2006. Arth served as Steelers quarterbacks coach the past two years.
While Arth has a previous relationship with McCarthy, retaining Arth on staff will also allow 2025 sixth-round quarterback Will Howard to keep the same position coach. That could be key for the young signal-caller’s development.
Arth gained head coaching experience at the college level from John Carroll, Chattanooga and Akron. Arth joined the NFL coaching ranks in 2022 with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Alexander has never coached under McCarthy previously. He returned to the Steelers as defensive backs coach last year after one season with the Raiders.
During his year in Las Vegas, Alexander coached safeties under Graham.
Alexander was an assistant defensive backs coach for the Steelers from 2022-23. He has six years of NFL coaching experience.
Mike McCarthy Retaining 3 Steelers Assistants But Making New DC Hire: Report