NFL Coaching Updates: Steelers, Slowik, Falcons, Ravens, Cowboys
Mike McCarthy‘s new coaching staff in Pittsburgh continues to fill out as a couple more expected hires were reported this week. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that Texas Tech outside linebackers coach C.J. Ah You is expected to head to the NFL for the same job with the Steelers, while Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS relayed the expectations that Derius Swinton II would be hired as senior special teams assistant.
A former NFL defensive end who appeared in 33 games with the Rams, Ah You turned to coaching following the end of his playing career. Apart from a brief stint in the XFL, Ah You has only coached at the collegiate level. He started as a special teams quality control coach at his alma mater, Oklahoma, before heading to a defensive line coaching job at Vanderbilt. Following his XFL gig, Ah You spent a year as a QC analyst at USC before landing in Lubbock in 2022. The Red Raiders finished the 2025 season with the sixth-most sacks in the country, and top pass rushers David Bailey and Romello Height made strong cases to be Day 1 picks.
Swinton heads to Pittsburgh after a three-year stint in Las Vegas, where he weathered the turnover of three different head coaches. Swinton has twice served single-season tenures as a special teams coordinator and was named to the interim role in Vegas last year after Tom McMahon‘s exit. He won’t be asked to fill the role of coordinator in Pittsburgh, but his experience after having worked in nine different NFL systems could be valuable to the Steelers in 2026.
Here are a few other coaching updates from around the NFL:
- Per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, the Jets are expected to hire Ryan Slowik to the position of safeties coach. Having coached on and off in the NFL since 2005, Slowik has only held position coaching roles in five seasons. He served as outside linebackers coach of the Cardinals in 2012, held the same position in Cleveland in 2016, and was named to the same role with the Dolphins in 2023 before moving the defensive backs coach/pass game specialist for the past two seasons in Miami. As second year head coach Aaron Glenn continues to rework his coaching staff, he’ll trust his secondary to Slowik and defensive backs coach Chris Harris.
- Zenitz of CBS Sports also reported yesterday that the Ravens are hiring Patrick Kramer to a role on their offensive staff. The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec clarified that Kramer’s role will be as a quality control coach. Zrebiec also reported that Rick Minter, the father of the team’s new head coach, will also join Baltimore’s staff after serving as a defensive consultant for the Chargers. Joining both Minters in the move, per Zrebiec, will be Christina DeRuyter. She worked in Los Angeles last year as the team’s director of football logistics.
- The Falcons announced that they have hired Matt Jones to the position of assistant offensive line coach. Jones comes over from Tennessee, where he started as an assistant offensive line coach in 2023 before moving to offensive assistant for the past two years. Jones will work under new offensive line coach Bill Callahan who retained Jones on the Titans’ staff when he became the team’s head coach.
- Lastly, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, the Cowboys have hired Robert Muschamp as a defensive quality control coach. The nephew of Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, the younger Muschamp worked most recently as a defensive quality control coach with the Chargers, specifically working with outside linebackers.
Steelers Interview Matthew Smiley For ST Coordinator
After watching special teams coordinator Danny Smith depart for warmer climates in Tampa Bay, the Steelers are now searching for a special teams coach to fill the role. To that end, the team interviewed former Bills special teams coach Matthew Smiley for the position, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. 
Smiley began his coaching career at Dartmouth, where he initially served as assistant quarterbacks/specialists coach in 2005 before being named special teams coordinator after his first year. He then went to Division III Eureka, where he spent a year as offensive coordinator and the next at defensive coordinator until he was named interim head coach. Following that, he worked three years at Eastern Illinois as running backs coach/special teams coordinator and a year at Charleston Southern with the same title.
Smiley landed in the NFL in 2013 as assistant special teams coordinator for the Jaguars. After four years in Duval, he made his way to Buffalo, where he served as assistant special teams coordinator for five more seasons. After nine years as an assistant and five years in Buffalo, Smiley was finally promoted to special teams coordinator in 2022, when Heath Farwell opened the spot with a move for the same role with Jacksonville.
In Smiley’s three years as special teams coordinator, he worked with kicker Tyler Bass and punter Sam Martin. The return game under Smiley saw early success with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in his first year and a punt return for a touchdown in his second. After the 2024 season, though, Smiley parted ways with the Bills and didn’t coach in the 2025 season.
Additionally, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Steelers are interviewing Texas Tech outside linebackers coach C.J. Ah You this Tuesday for the same role in Pittsburgh. Per Pelissero, Ah You also interviewed Friday with the Cowboys. The Steelers’ interest in hiring for that role likely indicates that 2025’s outside linebackers coach, Denzel Martin, will not be back in 2026.
