There was never much doubt about the Pittsburgh Steelers retaining head coach Mike Tomlin after another non-losing season and the inevitable Wild Card crash that came with it. His coordinators, Arthur Smith and Teryl Austin, will join him, too, However, there will be at least one change to Pittsburgh’s coaching staff, and it comes by way of an AFC competitor. As first reported by Ian Rapoport, the Steelers will lose key assistant coach Aaron Curry to the New York Jets in a coaching move on Friday. Curry had been Pittsburgh’s inside linebackers coach since 2023. With New York, he will be promoted a step higher, taking over as linebackers coach under defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and new head coach Aaron Glenn.
Curry’s coaching career began at Charlotte in 2013 as a strength and conditioning coordinator, and he eventually spent four seasons as the school’s defensive line coach. After the 2018 season, he found himself on Pete Carroll’s staff as an assistant with the Seattle Seahawks from 2019–2022. With the Steelers, Curry found success, along with the pedigree that comes with working under his second iconic coach.
Curry, the fourth pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, (then) Oakland Raiders, and New York Giants over five seasons.
The fruits of his labor may be most evident in rookie linebacker Payton Wilson’s development. The rookie showed improvement as the year rolled on, eventually living up to the “steal of the third round” comments that followed his selection. He’ll now get to preside over a unit headlined by Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood, both of whom looked the part as rising stars in 2024.
The departure is the Steelers’ first along the coaching staff, a development that lends itself to continuity but hasn’t appeased a fanbase concerned about stagnation
