After a long and respected coaching career, former Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back coach Kirby Wilson is retiring. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Wilson informed his current team, the Las Vegas Raiders, of the news this morning.
Wilson was hired by Mike Tomlin shortly after Tomlin was named the Steelers’ head coach in 2007. The two spent time together in Tampa Bay in the early 2000s. He spent seven years with the team helping to draft and develop the likes of Rashard Mendenhall and Le’Veon Bell. Bell was drafted in Wilson’s final year and as a rookie, rushed for 860 yards and eight touchdowns despite missing four games due to injury.
In 2007, the Steelers finished third in the league in rushing yards with Willie Parker running for over 1300 yards as Pittsburgh again captured the AFC North crown.
Wilson was burned in a house fire in January 2012. But he recovered and continued his coaching career. He took over as the Minnesota Vikings’ RB coach in 2014 and spent two years there. He then served as the Browns’ RB coach from 2016 to 2017, Cardinals’ RB coach in 2018, and Raiders’ RB coach in 2019 and 2020.
Reportedly, he was considered to be the Steelers’ OC in replacing Todd Haley in 2018. But that job went to Randy Fichtner.
