With the Lions hiring Anthony Lynn, Ike Hilliard returns to the Steelers, for now

The Pittsburgh Steelers will have more coaching turnover this offseason than usual. If you go back to last offseason, the Steelers simply added two coaches, not getting rid of any of their coaching staff.

However, that won’t be the case this offseason with the team already having to replace four coaches.

The coaches who were lost, for one reason or another, were:

Randy Fichtner (Offensive Coordinator)
Tom Bradley (Secondary Coach)
Shaun Sarrett (Offensive Line Coach)
James Daniel (Tight End Coach)

This list could grow with Matt Canada interviewing with the Miami Dolphins for their offensive coordinator and Teryl Austin interviewing for the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator opening.

Those two interviews didn’t surprise many, but a lot of Steelers fans were surprised when they read about wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard being interviewed for the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator vacancy.

Good news for the Steelers is they won’t have to be looking for a new receivers coach this upcoming season with the Lions deciding to go with former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn as their new play caller.

Hilliard joined the Steelers’ staff prior to the 2020 season, and he took over a position which was vacated for all the wrong reasons. Prior to the 2019 season was when Darryl Drake passed away at Saint Vincent College during the team’s training camp. Ray Sherman took over on the interim basis until the 2019 season had concluded.

The Steelers were able to lure Hilliard away from his job with the Washington Football Team, and the players seemed to be very pleased with Hilliard’s experience both as a player in the NFL and a receivers coach.

Typically when a coach gets an interview for a coordinator position, it is just the beginning of the ascension up the ranks of the coaching totem pole. However, as of now, the Steelers look won’t have to worry about replacing their wide receivers coach again.

Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black and gold as they prepare for the new league year, NFL Free Agency and the 2021 NFL Draft.