Sarah Stier/Getty Images Mike Hilton #28 of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts with Minkah Fitzpatrick #39 during the second half against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on September 14, 2020.
On Tuesday the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the hiring of Grady Brown as the team’s new secondary coach. In effect, Brown replaces former defensive backs coach Tom Bradley, who was fired in mid-January along with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett.
Notably, the Steelers job is the second one Brown has accepted in little more than a week, as Houston Cougars head coach Dana Holgorsen named Brown the cornerbacks coach at the school earlier this month.
Source: Houston is expected to hire McNeese State defensive coordinator Grady Brown as cornerbacks coach
Grady Brown Has Been a College Coaching Vagabond
It seems that Brown has been all over the college coaching landscape over the course of the past two decades.
In 2020 he was the defensive coordinator at McNeese State in Louisiana. In 2019 he was at Old Dominion in Virginia as co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. In 2018 he was at Louisville serving as recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach. In 2017 he coached the safeties at Alabama State. In 2016 he was the defensive coordinator at Birmingham Southern.
Prior to that he spent four years coaching the defensive backs at the University of South Carolina (2012-15), and before that he was with Southern Mississippi for a year. He has also been at LSU, where he was the defensive quality control coach in 2009, and at Texas Southern, where he coached the safeties in 2008.
Before that he spent six years coaching the secondary at Alabama State (2002-07), just after getting his college coaching career started as outside linebackers coach for Alabama A&M (his alma mater). That’s the same the school that produced Steelers Hall of Fame wide receiver/Steelers minority owner John Stallworth.
Brown has also been a part of two minority NFL coaching internships, one with the Seattle Seahawks and the other with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Birmingham native played defensive back at Alabama A&M and also played one season with the Tennessee Valley Vipers of the Arena Football League.
Mike Tomlin’s 2021 Staff Now Complete?
With the reported addition of Brown, it appears that Tomlin has put the finishing touches on the newest edition of his coaching staff.
In recent weeks the Steelers have added Mike Sullivan as quarterbacks coach and former Atlanta Falcons offensive line coach Chris Morgan, who will be the assistant offensive line coach under Adrian Klemm.
Tomlin has also promoted former quarterbacks coach Matt Canada to offensive coordinator and hired Alfredo Roberts to replace the recently-retired James Daniel as the team’s tight ends coach.
But losing Brown to the black & gold is yet another aggravation for Dana Holgorsen, who has had trouble filling his cornerbacks coach position, which was vacated on Jan. 8th when Zac Etheridge left to take the same position at Auburn. In fact, Holgorsen’s previous hire, Jay Valai, lasted just 12 days in the role before taking a job with the Philadelphia Eagles … and then quickly moving on to join Nick Saban at the University of Alabama.
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