The Pittsburgh Steelers have promoted Denzel Martin to outside linebackers coach while also Monday announcing the hire of Jason Brooks, who will serve as a quality control coach.
The Brooks hire was reported over the weekend, though we now officially know his title. Quality control coaches wear lots of hats, often helping with game-planning and advanced scouting, and working closely with the rest of the coaching staff. The Steelers have an offensive equivalent in Matt Tomsho, who is essentially Matt Canada’s right hand man. Brooks could also help Danny Smith out running special teams practices, a role Blaine Stewart held before leaving to become the TEs Coach at West Virginia.
Martin has slowly worked his way up the Steelers’ ladder. After meeting Mike Tomlin at Missouri Pro Day years ago, Martin was hired as a scouting intern. He switched over to the coaching side, first as an assistant, and then being named the assistant outside linebackers coach, working closely with DL Coach Karl Dunbar. Dunbar has coached the defensive line and outside linebackers as a group with Martin assisting putting those players through drills. It’s unclear if there will be more of a separation this year with Martin taking the true EDGE rushers separately. It’s something we’ll watch for at training camp.
Now-retired Steelers’ LB Vince Williams took to Twitter to praise the job Martin’s done.
The Steelers’ coaching staff currently sits at 17 members. The team has hired Brooks while losing Brian Flores, now DC of the Minnesota Vikings, and Stewart this offseason. Longtime coach John Mitchell also announced his retirement, though he’ll remain with the team through April. The team also parted ways with LBs Coach Jerry Olsavsky while hiring Aaron Curry as a replacement for him and Flores.
