For Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith’s special teams units, success breeds success. After their third straight game of blocking a kick, the 70-year-old discussed building a culture. Now that he has that culture established, he is seeing the results—in different ways than in the past.
“They’re all ‘all in’, and now everybody wants their shot”, Smith said via transcript about the Steelers’ special teamers believing in the importance of blocking kicks. “‘Hey, when am I going to get my shot?’ And that’s a good thing. That’s a cool thing”.
Over the past three weeks, OLB Jeremiah Moon blocked a punt, and DLs Isaiahh Loudermilk and Dean Lowry blocked field goals. Smith and the Steelers also lost a blocked extra point by Minkah Fitzpatrick due to poor officiating.
However, none of this is new for Danny Smith, who is in his second decade as a coach for the Steelers. And he has a couple of decades more experience coaching special teams at the NFL level before that. When he first joined, he admits things were different. Teams then just expected you not to screw up. However, thanks to coaches like him, teams understand they can have a more aggressive unit. And that is keeping him young.
“I’m going to tell you what, it’s these guys”, Smith said about how he continues to find motivation at his age. “They work their ass off for me, they do. They really do. And that isn’t easy, and that doesn’t happen everywhere. I’ve been at different places and been in different setups and different cultures and things like that”. Before joining the Steelers, he worked with the Eagles, Lions, Bills, and Commanders.
While the Steelers have had recent success under Danny Smith that is receiving more public attention, he has always had aggressive units. All you have to do is ask Steelers fans who always complained about them keeping “special teamers” on the roster.
While Smith says more of the league is embracing more proactive special teams units, he says the Steelers are the only place for the Pittsburgh native. “I only want to work where it’s important”, he said. “There are some places that it’s not important”.
“It’s fun to be at a place where it’s very important”, Smith said of his time with the Steelers. “To get the players, to get the coaches, to get Mike [Tomlin], ultimately with it, it’s always been important to him and he makes it and I make it important to the players, and obviously they’ve taken off with it”.
You might recall the Steelers’ surprise season-opening win over the Buffalo Bills in 2021. It was a blocked punt by Miles Killebrew, returned for a touchdown by Ulysees Gilbert, that set that in motion. Killebrew earned All-Pro honors two years later, a first for Danny Smith.
Killebrew embodies the Steelers’ commitment to special teams under Danny Smith. They put their money where their mouth is, signing him to a two-year, $6.5 million contract. But it’s never just one player, which is why we’re talking about Jeremiah Moon and Dean Lowry. Players who are hopeless depth pieces on offense and defense can be the starters of special teams.
