The Steelers are in the market for two assistant coaches — and possibly a third — but they are also considering expanding their staff and adding an additional full-time assistant.
It is unclear what position or area the Steelers will address with an additional assistant, but it is among the items coach Mike Tomlin is exploring as he wraps up postseason evaluations with his staff.
Tomlin has already elected not to renew the contracts of two assistants — outside linebackers coach Joey Porter and running backs coach James Saxon. And it will be interesting to see in which direction he will go to find their replacements.
Two of Tomlin’s past three position hires — defensive line coach Karl Dunbar and secondary coach Tom Bradley — came from the college ranks, where they had extensive experience and were viewed as teachers. The Steelers could go in a similar direction again when replacing Porter and Saxon.
One of the reasons the Steelers parted with Porter is because they felt he needed to develop more as a coach rather than simply being a former player who can pass on tricks of the trade. Porter spent one season as a graduate assistant coach at Colorado State, his alma mater, before being hired by the Steelers in 2014.
The Steelers could lose another assistant — an important one — if offensive line coach/run game coordinator Mike Munchak is offered and accepts a head-coaching position with another NFL team. Munchak has interviewed with the Denver Broncos and is considered a strong candidate to replace Vance Joseph, who was fired after two seasons.
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac
First Published: January 8, 2019, 5:50 p.m.
