There are no longer two Mike Sullivans in Pittsburgh. In fact, there’s not even one. After the Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coach “parted ways” with the team today, I double-checked the Steelers’ roster and saw the Mike Sullivan who coached the Steelers is no longer listed on it.
On the team’s front office page, his name had previously been below TEs Coach Alfredo Roberts. It’s now been removed.
It’s a change that happened at least a little while ago. Checking my notes when the team hired quality control coach Luke Smith, Sullivan’s name didn’t appear (and shame on me for not catching it earlier).
Hired in 2021 as the Steelers’ quarterbacks coach, Sullivan replaced Matt Canada’s role following the latter’s promotion to offensive coordinator. Sullivan held the position through the 2023 season. After Canada became the first Steelers coach fired midseason since World War II, Sullivan and RBs Coach Eddie Faulkner served as co-interim offensive coordinators. Faulkner was in charge of organizing and leading game planning throughout the week. A former offensive coordinator, Sullivan was in charge of calling the plays on gameday.
Pittsburgh’s offense showed signs of life under the new pairing, posting a 421-yard game in the first post-Canada game, a 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Still, the offense struggled to produce points until QB Mason Rudolph took over to pull Pittsburgh out of a three-game losing streak.
Sullivan transitioned into an offensive assistant for 2024. Arthur Smith was hired as full-time offensive coordinator and Tom Arth was tabbed as the Steelers’ new quarterbacks coach. Sullivan, after interviewing but failing to land offensive coordinator jobs elsewhere, was given the title of senior offensive assistant. He still had a presence with the quarterbacks and took part in meetings, as captured by the in-season edition of Hard Knocks.
Presumably, Sullivan was working on a one-year contract that expired. It’s not clear if Pittsburgh plans to hire a replacement. Perhaps Luke Smith will serve that purpose, though his background isn’t coaching quarterbacks. Or maybe the team will still add another coach later.
An Army grad who served in the 25th Infantry Division, Sullivan began coaching in 1993 at Humboldt State. His first NFL job came with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002, and he’s twice served as full-time offensive coordinator, 2012-2013 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 2016-2017 with the New York Giants.
Though there have been several changes to the Steelers’ coaching staff, the size of the group hasn’t grown. Scott McCurley and Gerald Alexander replaced ILB coach Aaron Curry and DB coach Grady Brown, respectively, while Smith was added and Sullivan departed.
