New defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander is no stranger to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was with the team in 2022-2023 as the assistant defensive backs coach. So, some of the more veteran defensive backs already have a relationship with their new coach. Second-year CB Beanie Bishop Jr. has one too.
When Bishop joined the Christian Kuntz Podcast on Thursday, he shed some light on how he knows his new coach.
“It’s crazy how the world works, bro,” Bishop said. “So, last year, I had the East-West Shrine Bowl. Like a Senior Bowl game. And he was one of the coaches, actually. Just being able to kinda have a relationship with him and stuff like that is, it’s crazy to come full circle with him being a defensive back coach.”
Bishop played for the West in the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl and Alexander actually served as the team’s linebackers coach. Bishop noted that “they have coaches probably coaching out of position and all of that kind of stuff when you go out there”, hence Alexander coaching a position other than the one he has usually been around in the league.
Alexander was coaching the Las Vegas Raiders’ safeties at the time, but coaching linebackers probably gave him a broader picture of how the defense operates. It’s a good step for moving up as a defensive coach.
It also seems like the experience was a pleasant one for Bishop. Even if Alexander wasn’t directly coaching him, Bishop remembered working around him for that week. Getting to see a new coach work means you already have an understanding of how they approach their craft. And Bishop says that they developed a bit of a relationship, too.
Whether that means Gerald Alexander will take Beanie Bishop Jr.’s career to the next level remains to be seen. But even Christian Kuntz offered Alexander praise when Bishop brought him up.
“GA’s the best,” Kuntz said. “He’s cool as hell. He was here, he went to Vegas…and then came back here. But he’s great. You’re gonna like him, bro.”
The Steelers’ long snapper having an appreciation of Alexander, even though he plays a completely different position, is a sign of how well-liked Alexander is across the team. Hopefully for Bishop, Alexander will be as good, if not better, a coach as he is beloved by the players around him.
