Just a few days ago, former first-round pick and Seattle Seahawks assistant defensive line/defensive ends coach Aaron Curry was reportedly hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers to be a linebackers coach. Curry confirmed those reports by changing his bio on Twitter, stating he is now a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ staff.
It appeared as if Curry would take up the role of OLB Coach in Pittsburgh with Jerry Olsavsky being a mainstay as their ILB coach, but rumors swirled that Curry would be coaching the ILBs as well, leaving some confusion how the two would work together in the same position room.
However, according to a report by Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Curry is indeed replacing Olsavsky as the teams de-facto ILB coach who won’t be retained by Pittsburgh after their recent hire.
The team shortly confirmed Dulac’s report, listing Curry as their new ILB coach on their Twitter page.
Olsavsky began his tenure with the Steelers back in 1989 as a player, wearing the Black and Gold for nearly a decade before finishing his career with shorts stints in Cincinnati and Baltimore. He returned to Pittsburgh in 2010, being hired as a defensive assistant where he would serve through the 2014 season. Olsavsky was then promoted to ILB coach in 2015, working in that capacity through the 2022 season last year.
Curry was a former top-five pick, as he was drafted fourth overall by Seattle in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Wake Forest. He also played for the then-Oakland Raiders in his NFL career, which ended after five seasons. Curry spent the past four seasons on the Seattle Seahawks’ coaching staff helping the likes of Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor post career-best campaigns in 2022. He has been lauded by his former coach Pete Carroll for how fast he his risen up the ranks and how he’s an important member of the coaching staff.
For a team that has already lost the likes of Brian Flores, Blaine Stewart, and John Mitchell from the coaching staff, Pittsburgh now experiences more turnover with their long-time ILB coach moving on from the organization. For a team that traditionally experiences little change amongst its coaching ranks, the subtraction of Olsavsky and the addition of Curry marks yet another move in what will be an impactful offseason for head coach Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff.
