Here is a name for the past for you guys on this quiet Sunday without Pittsburgh Steelers football. Former Steelers WR Ryan Switzer has reportedly accepted the role of being Tulsa’s interim head coach after Kevin Wilson was fired this morning, per Pete Thamel on X.
Switzer was initially selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He appeared in 16 games for the Cowboys that season and had just six receptions on seven targets for 41 yards. The Cowboys parted ways with him that offseason and he ended up landing with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2018 and 2019 seasons before finishing out his career as an inactive with the Cleveland Browns for a couple seasons.
He appeared in 25 games with the Steelers during those two seasons and had 44 catches on 55 targets for 280 yards and a touchdown. He was also a return specialist, with 38 punt return attempts for an average of 7.4 yards per return and 39 kick return attempts for an average of 19.8 yards per return.
As Thamel wrote in the above tweet, Wilson was 7-16 as the head coach of Tulsa, and fell to 1-6 in their conference for the 2024 season with yesterday’s 63-30 loss to the South Florida Bulls.
Switzer had been an assistant coach there since the 2023 season, and will now get his first chance as a head coach in an interim capacity. These types of roles can sometimes lead to bigger opportunities, so Switzer is already starting to climb the ranks in his young coaching career.
Ben Roethlisberger took a liking to Switzer in their one season together. Switzer credited Roethlisberger for helping jump-start his career with impromptu film sessions. Roethlisberger’s fondness of Switzer may have been a reason he stuck around in Pittsburgh for as long as he did.
He was beat out by Ray-Ray McCloud during the 2020 training camp, and retired from his playing career in July of 2022 after a couple seasons with the Browns.
