Before the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded guard Kevin Dotson to the Los Angeles Rams, and Dotson went off to have his best season as a pro and earned a three-year, $48 million extension. Besides a return to his natural right guard position, Dotson excelled thanks to the Rams’ investment in the offensive line room, including adding former Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak as a consultant. According to Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic, the Rams want Munchak to consult for the team again in 2024.
“The Rams also invested in their coaching of the offensive line, hiring former longtime Patriots center Ryan Wendell as the new position coach, promoting assistants Zak Kromer and Nick Jones and adding famed coach Mike Munchak in a consulting role,” Rodrique writes. “Though Jones joined former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris in Atlanta as the latter took over as head coach, Los Angeles remains hopeful Munchak will return to consult another year.”
Munchak served as Pittsburgh’s offensive line coach from 2014-2018 following a stint as head coach of the Tennessee Titans. Pittsburgh had some of their best years running the football with Le’Veon Bell and their offensive line, featuring the likes of Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Alejandro Villanueva during that era was the best it’s been in a long time. Munchak, a Hall of Fame lineman himself, left to coach the Denver Broncos offensive line in 2019 after being a finalist for their open head-coaching position.
In recent years, there’s been a lot of buzz to bring Munchak back to Pittsburgh, especially after he said he wanted to get back into coaching prior to the 2023 season. That didn’t happen with the Steelers, Munchak remaining on the west coast and helping the Rams turn an unheralded offensive line into one of the best in football. Los Angeles signed guard Jonah Jackson yesterday and is kicking Steve Avila inside to center, a position he played extensively in college, so the Rams’ line should once again be one of the best in the league in 2024.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac also said there was a possibility of Munchak coming back, but the Steelers like the work that Pat Meyer has done over the past two seasons and are content with him running the show on the offensive line. The Steelers have invested a lot in the offensive line, signing guards Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels the last two offseasons and also drafting OT Broderick Jones in the first round. With a need at center and at tackle, the Steelers could once again spend an early pick on the offensive line or potentially make an expenditure in free agency.
With Meyer entering Year 3, we’ll see if the Steelers line can continue to make improvements. They got better throughout the season each of the last two years, and hopefully the line can put together a full season and help a Steelers ground game led by Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren excel while keeping either Kenny Pickett or Russell Wilson (that still feels weird to write) upright.
