Former Pittsburgh Steelers LB Coach Jerry Olsavsky is still coaching football. Just no longer at the NFL level. According to the Duquesne football website, he is serving as a defensive assistant for the 2023 season. His bio is brief and doesn’t even include a photo but it appears he’s part of the coaching staff.
“Jerry Olsavsky is going into his first year as Defensive Assistant for Duquesne.Â
Olsavsky was the long-time Linebackers Coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, with his tenure spanning 8 years. Drafted by Pittsburgh in 1989, he was a Steeler until 1997 before ultimately retiring a year later. He was a defensive assistant for Pittsburgh from 2010-2015.”
He served as the Steelers’ linebackers coach from 2015-22, primarily coaching the team’s inside linebackers. He parted ways with the team this past offseason, presumably because the team did not renew his contract, though it’s still unclear why he did not return. Instead, Pittsburgh hired Aaron Curry to be its new inside linebackers coach, and the team has generally gotten positive results from its overhauled room. Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander, and Elandon Roberts have played well and produced more splash plays than the trio of Devin Bush, Robert Spillane, and Myles Jack offered a season ago. As we noted yesterday, their number of impact plays has more than doubled last year’s group even just halfway through this season.
Duquesne is an FCS school located in the heart of Pittsburgh. Its football team even plays at “Rooney Field.” Entering the weekend, it had been a solid season for the Dukes. Following a Saturday win over Wagner, the team is 6-3 and winners of four straight, a big improvement over its 4-7 finish last season. Their 5-0 conference record guarantees the Dukes at least a share of the Northeast Conference title.
He was one of four coaches who didn’t return for 2023. The others were Assistant Head Coach John Mitchell, who retired after being the team’s longest-tenured coach. Offensive Assistant Blaine Mitchell left to become the tight ends coach at West Virginia while Linebackers Coach/Defensive Assistant Brian Flores was hired as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.
Since departing the team, there hasn’t been much other info out on Olsavsky. The only other notable piece of news is that his son, Joe Olsavsky, signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves in June. A shortstop, he became the first player from John Carroll to sign with an MLB team in more than 50 years. According to Baseball Reference, he appeared in one game for Atlanta’s Gulf Coast League affiliate this season, going 1-for-2 with a walk.
