FlurrySports lists the top Pittsburgh Steelers head coach candidates, including Brian Flores and more.
After once again squeaking into the NFL Playoffs before getting destroyed in the Wild Card round by the Houston Texans, Mike Tomlin decided to part ways with the Pittsburgh Steelers and step down from his role as head coach. Although Tomlin could easily return to coaching in the near future, his tenure with Pittsburgh ends after 19 seasons. Along with the Baltimore Ravens’ job, the Steelers’ head coach opening will be one of the most desirable, and Pittsburgh needs to hit its hire out of the park.
With plenty of teams looking for a new head coach, and high standards they need to uphold as one of the most storied franchises in the league, it’ll be interesting to see what pick Pittsburgh makes. Here are the three most likely next Pittsburgh Steelers head coach candidates.
Next Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Candidates
Brian Flores | Vikings DC
If you’ve read many of our head coach candidate articles at FlurrySports, you’ll notice that Brian Flores is named in a lot of them. The reason why is simple: he is that good. The connection with Flores to Pittsburgh is certainly there, with Flores spending his first season after being fired by the Miami Dolphins as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. He spent one year in that role before moving to the Minnesota Vikings’ franchise to become their defensive coordinator in a role he’s held ever since.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are known for gritty, hard-nosed football with an emphasis on a punishing defense. Flores checks all three of those boxes and gives the team another head coach who can be a strong and vocal leader. He knows his way around a locker room, and he has plenty of experience in winning locker rooms from his decade of experience with the New England Patriots. The Steelers needed a change at head coach, but they don’t need to completely flip everything on its head; they just need new blood. Flores gives Pittsburgh exactly that, and he will make sure their standards stay set at a high level.
Chris Shula | Rams DC
If history has taught us one thing about the Pittsburgh Steelers and the head coaches they hire, it’s that they like to target young head coaches with no head coaching experience who specialize in defense. Chris Shula meets all of those criteria, but is one of the less spoken about head coaching candidates due to all the big names that have recently been let go. Shula has quickly risen through the ranks in his coaching career, reaching the NFL in 2015, just five years after starting out coaching as an assistant linebackers coach at Ball State. He has been with the Los Angeles Rams since 2017 and has risen through the ranks of head coach Sean McVay’s coaching staff.
Not only does Shula have the name-brand draw from being the son of Mike Shula and the grandson of the late legendary head coach Don Shula, but he has dialed up some impressive defenses with the Rams. His defenses are able to bring pressure from their defensive front while also mixing in some blitzing linebackers to cause chaos for opposing teams. He has been learning under McVay for a long time and looks ready for a shot at his first head coaching job. While he is one of the lesser-mentioned candidates for the Steelers’ head coach job, he could be the best pick for them this offseason.
Jeff Hafley | Packers DC
If you’re sensing a trend here, it’s for good reason. There is an incredibly high likelihood that the Steelers will hire a defensive coordinator to take over for Mike Tomlin. Jeff Hafley is one of the best defensive coordinators likely on the market, and Pittsburgh would give him one of the best situations to walk into. Hafley was a relatively unknown coach until he walked into Green Bay and has since been the reason for their impressive defensive turnaround. While it’s easy to have a good defense with a superstar like Micah Parsons, his defense was very good last year without him as well.
Jeff Hafley didn’t get a full season or even a healthy season with Micah Parsons, and he still terrorized defenses. With Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt at his disposal, Hafley could do great things defensively for the Steelers as well. He has no head coaching experience at the NFL level, but just listening to how his players speak about him shows that he is extremely well respected in the Green Bay Packers‘ locker room. He’s an East Coast kid born and raised and embodies everything the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Steelers embody, making him as good a bet as any to take over the reins for Mike Tomlin as the next Pittsburgh Steelers head coach.
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