Steelers Assistant Pegged Potential Candidate for Head Coaching Gig

Getty The Athletic's Chris Vannini named wide receiver coach Zach Azzanni, who is on Mike Tomlin's staff with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a head coaching candidate for Central Michigan.

It’s been nearly two decades since a Pittsburgh Steelers assistant left for a head coaching job. But The Athletic’s Chris Vannini suggested that possibility exists with Steelers wide receiver coach Zach Azzanni this offseason.

Vannini named Azzanni one of 12 candidates for the head coach opening at Central Michigan.

“Azzanni is a CMU alum who coached with the Chips from 2007 to ’09. He recruited Antonio Brown and Eric Fisher to the school during a dominant period under Jones,” Vannini wrote. “He has also coached at Florida, Tennessee and Wisconsin and has been in the NFL since 2017.

“His receivers have played a big role in the Steelers’ 8-3 start this season.”

Azzanni is in his first season on Mike Tomlin’s staff with the Steelers. The last Pittsburgh assistant coach to become a head coach was Bruce Arians.

But Arians didn’t go directly from coaching with the Steelers to a head coaching job. The last coach to leave the Steelers to immediately become a head coach elsewhere was Ken Whisenhunt in 2007.

Could WR Zach Azzanni Depart Steelers After 1 Season?

Some Steelers fans might take a little issue with Vannini’s claim that the receivers “have played a big role” in the team’s 8-3 start.

But regardless of semantics, Azzanni has done well in his first season with the Steelers. Coming into the season, Pittsburgh was expected to have a poor receiving group. But the Steelers receivers are not holding back the team, and at times, they’ve performed very well.

Azzanni should receive considerable credit for that.

The question after Vannini named Azzanni a Central Michigan head coaching candidate, though, is whether he will stay in 2025.

Azzanni has coached in the NFL the past eight years and hasn’t risen above wide receivers coach. Moving into a role where he runs an entire college program will be a big jump.

Vannini detailed all the challenges Central Michigan will present its next head coach. Still, it could be an appealing gig for Azzanni since it’s his alma mater.

In addition to his NFL experience, Azzanni coached at the college level from 1999-2016. During that time, he served as wide receivers coach for six different FBS programs. Azzanni was on the Central Michigan staff from 2007-09.

On top of his wide receiver coaching duties, he served as passing game coordinator for Florida in 2010 and Tennessee from 2015-16.

Mike Tomlin’s Lack of Coaching Tree

Tomlin has experienced success in the NFL like few coaches before him. He’s won a Super Bowl, captured two AFC championships and not registered a losing season in his first 17 years as Steelers head coach.

But in his Steelers tenure, he has yet to see an assistant be hired as a head coach elsewhere. Arians is the only “branch” on Tomlin’s coaching tree, but he departed the team after his contract expired following the 2011 season.

Arians next served as offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts. He became the team’s interim head coach when Chuck Pagano had to undergo cancer treatment in 2012. Arians’ success in his interim position landed him a head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals.

In 2007, Whisenhunt was the front runner for the Steelers head coach opening when Bill Cowher retired. But after interviewing Tomlin, the Steelers elected to hire him.

Whisenhunt was the Steelers offensive coordinator at the time. After the team chose Tomlin as head coach, Whisenhunt left for, ironically, the Cardinals’ head coaching job.

Arians replaced Whisenhunt in Arizona in 2013.