Here’s the latest coaching news from a pair of AFC North cities:
- The Steelers are adding IUP offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. to their staff in an unspecified role, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The move reunites Cignetti and new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, who worked together in New Orleans from 2000-01 and again in Green Bay in 2018. Then in his 13th year as the Packers’ head coach, McCarthy hired Cignetti as the team’s quarterbacks coach. McCarthy didn’t survive the season, though, as the Packers fired him after a 4-7-1 start. Cignetti has since coached at the college level, including a run as Pitt’s offensive coordinator/QBs coach from 2022-23, but will now return to the pros.
- Ramon Chinyoung Sr. will serve as the Steelers’ running backs coach in 2026, the team announced. It’s another familiar addition for McCarthy, who has now hired Chinyoung twice. As the Cowboys’ head coach in 2023, McCarthy brought in Chinyoung as the team’s assistant offensive line coach/quality control. McCarthy lost his job in Dallas after 2024, but Chinyoung stayed on Brian Schottenheimer‘s staff this past season. Chinyoung is set to work with Steelers running back Jaylen Warren in his new gig, while fellow RB Kenneth Gainwell is slated to reach free agency after totaling 1,023 yards (537 rushing, 486 receiving), 73 catches and five touchdowns in 2025.
- Eddie Faulkner, who preceded Chinyoung as Pittsburgh’s running backs coach, is expected to take the same position with the rival Ravens, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. During his seven-year tenure in Pittsburgh, Faulkner oversaw career years from the Warren-Gainwell tandem in 2025 and four straight 1,000-yard seasons from Najee Harris from 2021-24. He’ll now coach the Ravens’ Derrick Henry-led backfield in Baltimore.
- Elsewhere on the Baltimore staff, the Ravens are finalizing a deal with P.J. Volker to work as a defensive assistant, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Volker, coming off a three-year stretch as Navy’s defensive coordinator, is “extremely close” with new Ravens head coach Jesse Minter, Zrebiec notes. The two were teammates at Mount St. Joseph and later coached together at Indiana State and Georgia State.