Houston Texans QB Coach Jerrod Johnson is interviewing for the Pittsburgh Steelers OC vacancy, according to a Friday morning tweet from CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. The interview will take place later today.
Johnson, 35, briefly played for the Steelers in 2012, spending training camp with the team. There, he served as the team’s fourth-string quarterback and did not make the 53-man roster. He will be the second confirmed interview for the position after the team formally interviewed Carolina Panthers OC Thomas Brown earlier in the week.
In college, Johnson threw for over 8,000 yards and 67 touchdowns at Texas A&M from 2007-10. His professional career was a long and winding one, Johnson playing in the NFL, IFL, UFL, CFL, and even a flag football league televised by the NFL Network in 2018, competing with and against ex-Steelers QBs like Dennis Dixon and Mike Vick.
Johnson spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts as an offensive quality control coach. He was then hired by the Minnesota Vikings in 2022 as an assistant QBs coach before becoming the Texans’ QB Coach in 2023. He helped QB C.J. Stroud have a fantastic season, the Ohio State product a surefire bet to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. Stroud threw for 23 touchdowns and five interceptions as the Texans made the playoffs and beat the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card Round.
Johnson hasn’t called plays before but is viewed as a rising star in the coaching ranks. That’s been the theme of the Steelers’ confirmed and reported interest in OC candidates, Johnson having a similar resume as Los Angeles Rams Passing Game Coordinator Zac Robinson. However, Robinson seems most likely to end up with Raheem Morris as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator. An in-person interview with Robinson has not yet taken place.
Like Robinson, Johnson has generated plenty of buzz this hiring cycle. Jones’ tweet notes that he’s interviewed with several teams for offensive coordinator roles this year, just as Texans OC Bobby Slowik has been in the mix for several head-coaching opportunities. But it could be Johnson, not Slowik, who ultimately is coaching elsewhere in 2024.
As they did with Brown, the Steelers’ meeting with Johnson should be formally announced by the end of the day.
Update: The Steelers officially announced their interview with Johnson on X.
