The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced their second coaching hire of the day, hiring former NFL safety Gerald Alexander as the team’s assistant defensive backs coach.
Alexander, a second-round pick from Boise State in the 2007 NFL Draft, appeared in 44 career games, starting 30 of them. He finished his NFL career in 2011, totaling 159 tackles and four interceptions in five seasons.
Interestingly, his bio page says he’s in his second year with the Steelers, though the team never made an official announcement last season of him being officially hired in any capacity.
After his playing days were over, he got into coaching, starting at Arkansas State in 2013. His first NFL job was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an intern in 2016 before returning to the college ranks. The Miami Dolphins hired him to be their defensive backs coach in 2020 but he lasted only two seasons, let go after Brian Flores was fired.
Alexander will assist DB Coach Grady Brown in the secondary. He is the second announced hire of the day, joining offensive assistant Glenn Thomas. For several years, the Steelers had two secondary coaches be it Tom Bradley and Teryl Austin or Austin and Brown. With Austin’s promotion to DC last year, Brown worked more solo. Now, the team smartly adds an assistant to juggle a big group of guys. Pittsburgh tied the NFL lead with 20 interceptions last season, 18 of those coming from the secondary, and the Steelers will look to continue their ball-hawking ways in 2023.
