There is another report that has now surfaced late Thursday that is stating Pittsburgh Steelers special teams coach Amos Jones will be named the new special teams coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Tommy Deas of tidesports.com reports that Jones, a former University of Alabama football player, will indeed join the Cardinals coaching staff. Deas only states in his report that Jones is leaving the staff of the Steelers, but speculation would suggest that he didn\’t have his contract renewed.
This now makes two reports stating that Jones is indeed no longer part of the Steelers organization as Mike Jurecki of XTRA 910 Radio in Arizona reported earlier on Thursday that he had heard Jones will be hired by new Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians.
The Steelers have yet to confirm or deny any of these reports.
Jones took over as the Steelers special teams coach after Al Everest was fired just prior to the start of the season. Under the guidance of Jones the Steelers ranked 28th in the league in punt return average (7.3) and 9th overall in kickoff return average (25.3). Defending punts and kickoffs in 2012 was just as bad for the Steelers special teams unit as they ranked 22nd in punt return average allowed (10.2) and 17th in kickoff return average (24.0).
The Steelers are expected to name a new offensive line coach very soon and it is likely that they will announce who their new special team coach will be at the same. The Steelers brass was down at the Senior Bowl this past week, where they most likely interviewed for the two open spots on the coaching staff.
