Two new Pittsburgh Steelers coaches and one scout will be donning new titles when they go to work in the 2020 season. The team website has updated their front office tab with three Steelers having new official roles.
Blaine Stewart has been elevated from coaching assistant to assistant receivers coach. He’ll work alongside newly hired Ike Hilliard with the wideouts. Stewart served as interim WR coach, along with Ray Sherman, following the sudden death of Darryl Drake during training camp in 2019.
Son of famous West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, Blaine has been with the Steelers since February of 2018.
He isn’t the only one given a promotion. Denzel Martin’s title has also shifted from coaching assistant to assistant outside linebackers coach. Last season, the Steelers didn’t have an official OLB coach following Joey Porter’s departure. The team announced DC Keith Butler would take over his duties while it’s understood DL coach Karl Dunbar works closely with the team’s edge rushers.
Martin was hired as a scouting assistant in 2016, Mike Tomlin impressed by him on a Missouri Pro Day visit, and he’s worked his way up the ladder ever since. He was promoted to coaching assistant in 2018.
On the front office side of things, Dennis MacInnis has been promoted from scouting intern to BLESTO scout. An Oregon alumni, MacInnis was hired in 2018. He’ll now work with BLESTO, one of two national scouting agencies that helps teams build a foundation for each class. The “S” in BLESTO stands for Steelers – Bears, Lions, Eagles, Steelers Talent Orgnization. National is the other scouting service other teams subscribe to.
Chidi Iwuoma, the team’s previous BLESTO scout, is now a college scout, the same tag worn by the Steelers’ area scouts.
If these three names sound familiar to you, they should. We wrote how all three were rising through the organization just a few weeks ago so it’s no surprise to see them receive internal promotions.
Update (9:15 PM): It’s also worth noting Fawwaz Izzuddin has moved from Football VR Intern to Scouting Intern, replacing MacInnis’ title. Izzuddin was hired in 2018.
