Earlier today, we wrote about the praise Mike Tomlin had for new Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker coach Aaron Curry. Now, Curry is returning the favor. Speaking to reporters following Wednesday’s practice, Curry had nothing but good things to say about his time in Pittsburgh working alongside Tomlin.
“Really the question is what haven’t I learned?” Curry said via 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller. “He’s a tremendous leader, a tremendous coach. He’s taught me stuff indirectly and directly from an organizational standpoint, from schematics, from positional value, all types of thing. He’s shown me how to lead a group of men. So I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Curry was hired in February to replace Brian Flores, who left to become the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, and Jerry Olsavsky, who was not retained. The new hire to coach inside linebackers was fitting. Along with a coaching change, Pittsburgh overhauled their entire inside linebacker room, signing Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, Tanner Muse, Nick Kwiatkoski, and most recently, Kwon Alexander in free agency. The only inside linebacker on Pittsburgh’s 90-man roster from a year ago is Mark Robinson, a second-year player who figures to primarily function on special teams this season.
For Curry, it’s been an NFL journey full of ups and downs. A star linebacker at Wake Forest, he was considered the “safest” player in the draft when the Seattle Seahawks picked him fourth overall in 2009. But Curry didn’t pan out, spending 2.5 seasons with the team before being traded to Oakland. His NFL career fell apart, he got hurt, and he was out of the league by 2013, four years after he entered in.
Curry then got into coaching. First, he took a job at Charlotte where he coached Larry Ogunjobi and Alex Highsmith. He made it back to Seattle in 2019 not as a player but this time as a coach, working with the linebackers through 2022. Tomlin came calling this winter. Still only 37, Curry is relatively new to coaching at the NFL level and being around a veteran like Tomlin is paying dividends.
“It’s hard to put words to it but it’s really a cool experience,” Curry said.
Curry cited the traits most players and coaches mention when talking about Tomlin’s leadership abilities. Pure honesty that lets every player – and coach – know where they stand and what they need to do is something Curry says isn’t commonly found in the league.
“Most people think that guys run away from transparency. People love it and you know exactly what you’re gonna get with him. He’s gonna give you the truth. Hard truths, good truths.”
Tomlin’s coached by the adage of “don’t treat every player equally but treat every player fairly.” While that may seem hypocritical, it’s the NFL’s honest reality. Star players get more leeway than the 90th-man on the roster. And that doesn’t just mean starters get to cut corners. Starters and those higher up on the depth chart are afforded more time to get healthy, for example. Those at the back of the roster can get squeezed out if their roster spot is needed. And Tomlin’s never shied away from making that clear to players.
While the Steelers have yet to play a regular season game, Curry’s tenue with Pittsburgh seems off to a good start. The Steelers’ inside linebacker group is intense, physical, and has depth its lacked. Over the past week, the team has used a true four-man rotation at the position with Holcomb, Robinson, Roberts, and Alexander all mixing and matching. Holcomb, Roberts, and Alexander should all see significant playing time this season with Robinson a quality reserve who may see action in specific run-heavy packages, as he did a year ago.
Curry has been hard at work getting the group up to speed. After one team period in today’s practice, for example, Curry had the whole ILB group around him as he watched tape off his tablet.
Pittsburgh’s group will get tested right out of the gate when they take on the San Francisco 49ers Week One. Last season, they ranked first in the NFL in rushing attempts, second in yards and yards per carry, and eighth in touchdowns. Their creative scheme offers plenty of window dressing and uses every inch of the field horizontally which will ask a lot out of the Steelers’ inside linebackers. Curry must have his group ready to answer the call.
