During an appearance on The PM Team with Andrew Filliponi and Chris Mueller, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Ray Fittipaldo was asked if the Steelers attempted to hire team legend Hines Ward for their wide receiver coach job.
“Not to my knowledge, no,” Fittipaldo said.\.
Pittsburgh reportedly opted to hire Zach Azzanni, who worked as the Denver Broncos wide receiver coach from 2017-2022 and served in the same role with the New York Jets in 2023. Ward served as the head coach of the XFL’s San Antonio Brahmas last season but was let go in favor of Wade Phillips as the team transitioned into the newly formed UFL. Fittipaldo said he doesn’t think Ward will ever end up coaching under Mike Tomlin beyond his role as a coaching intern during the 2017 season.
“Hines expressed an interest years ago after [former Steelers wide receivers coach] Darryl Drake passed away, but he was under contract with the Jets so it didn’t work out then,” Fittipaldo said. “This is now the third receivers coach that’s been hired since Darryl passed away, so it doesn’t seem like it’s ever gonna happen under Mike Tomlin. I honestly don’t know if he was even interviewed this time, but for whatever reason, they just don’t want to go in that direction.”
In addition to his time with the Brahmas and as a coaching intern with the Steelers, Ward served as an offensive assistant with the New York Jets from 2019-20 and the wide receivers coach at Florida Atlantic University in 2021. He was reportedly interested in Pittsburgh’s wide receiver coach job before the team hired Drake, but a disconnect between Ward and Tomlin over how to handle former WR Antonio Brown led Pittsburgh to go in a different direction.
With Pittsburgh parting ways with wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson earlier this week, the team moved quickly to bring in Azzanni, who was reportedly replaced as the Jets’ wide receivers coach by Shawn Jefferson. Ward seemed like a natural fit due to his prior coaching experience and ties to the team, but it seems like the Steelers didn’t feel as if he would be a fit for the role, or there simply wasn’t mutual interest.
Azzanni is an experienced, veteran coach who also worked with Brown during his time at Central Michigan, and he seems to be a good fit for the Steelers. But it’s interesting to hear that Ward may not have ever really been a candidate, and at this point, probably won’t hold a coaching role for the Steelers under Tomlin.
