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.
Bills To Fire ST Coordinator Matthew Smiley
In the wake of their season-ending in the AFC title game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott offered a vote of confidence in special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley. Buffalo will nevertheless be making a change on the sidelines.
The Bills are parting ways with Smiley, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. That represents a notable about-face on McDermott’s part, considering his remarks at the end of the campaign. Smiley had severed as special teams coordinator for the past three seasons.
“Matthew has done a nice job,” McDermott said at his season-ending press conference (via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg). “Listen, I know there are plays that have come up, and I know he doesn’t feel great about them, nor do I. Those are learning pieces for a coach in his position… All that being said, I’m confident that Coach Smiley is going to learn from those situations and plays that came up this year.”
In spite of that sentiment, Buffalo will make a move in the third phase for 2025. Smiley’s unit was affected by the many defensive injuries the Bills dealt with early in the year in particular, but it still fell short of expectations. Personnel issues were a consistent problem in 2024, a year in which the team allowed a punt block return and a kick return touchdown. Overall, Buffalo’s 30.8 kick return yards allowed on average was the fifth-worst mark in the league.
Smiley, 46, first joined the Bills in 2017 as a special teams assistant. He previously worked in that capacity with the Jaguars from 2013-16 after working as a special teams coordinator on two occasions at the college level. He will now look to find his next opportunity late in the 2025 hiring cycle as McDermott and the Bills seek out a replacement capable of leading a more consistent showing on special teams moving forward.
Coaching Notes: Wilks, Bills, Dolphins, Bears, Broncos
Steve Wilks is back with the Panthers. The team announced that they’ve hired the veteran coach as their new defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach.
Wilks played for the Carolina franchise during his stint in the AFL, and his first coaching gig was at a nearby college. Of course, Wilks also worked for the Panthers, starting as a defensive backs coach before working his way up to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
The 52-year-old had a brief stint as the Cardinals head coach in 2018 before moving on to Cleveland as the Browns defensive coordinator in 2019. Now, he’s back in Carolina, replacing now-Raiders defensive pass-game coordinator Jason Simmons.
More coaching notes from around the NFL…
- The Bills have a new special teams coordinator, as the team announced the promotion of Matthew Smiley. The veteran coach has spent the past five years in Buffalo, serving as assistant ST coach. Per the team’s announcement, Smiley played a significant role in the development of kicker Tyler Bass and returner Andre Roberts. Smiley will replace Heath Farwell, who will be joining the Jaguars coaching staff.
- Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel will be retaining special teams coordinator Danny Crossman, reports ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter). Crossman has been with the Dolphins since 2019, and he earned a promotion to assistant head coach in 2021. The 55-year-old previously served as the ST coordinator with the Bills, Lions, and Panthers.
- Matt Eberflus continues to add to his coaching staff. The Bears announced that they’ve hired Tim Zetts as their assistant tight ends coach and Omar Young as an offensive quality control coach. The two coaches both have connections to the Packers franchise. Meanwhile, Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com writes that the Bears also hired David Walker as their new running backs coach. The 52-year-old last coached in 2018.
- Ben Steele will be the Broncos new assistant offensive line coach, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver (via Twitter). Chris Kuper, who previously served in the role, has been let go. Steele will report to Butch Barry, who is the full-time OL coach.
Coaching Notes: Redskins, Rams, Panthers
The Redskins have interviewed Chargers assistant defensive backs coach Chris Harris and longtime NFL coach Tim Lewis for their vacant secondary coach position, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link) reported last month that new Los Angeles head coach Anthony Lynn would retain Harris and several other defensive coaches, but the Chargers may simply be allowing Harris — whom Jones says is considered a “rising star” — to pursue a promotion. Lewis, meanwhile, has experience as a coordinator, and has spent time with the Steelers, Giants, Panthers, Seahawks, Falcons, and, most recently, the 49ers.
Here’s more on the 2017 hiring cycle:
- Washington had hoped to promote assistant defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant to lead its secondary unit, but after the two sides couldn’t agree to a deal, Pleasant is instead following former Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay to Los Angeles, per Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post, who reports that Pleasant will join the Rams in an unspecified role. Another ex-Redskins coach, Shane Waldron (who had worked as offensive quality control assistant) will also depart for Los Angeles and become the Rams’ new tight ends coach, tweets Marvez. Finally, the Rams have also agreed to hire ex-UCLA wide receivers coach Eric Yarber for the same position, writes Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com.
- The Panthers announced they’ve hired former Stanford RBs coach Lance Taylor as their new wide receivers coach. Taylor served as Carolina’s assistant WRs coach in 2014, working under Ricky Proehl, who resigned from the Panthers’ staff last month, and played for Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula at Alabama. The Panthers also announced the hiring of former Rams defensive quality control coach Jeff Imamura as their new assistant defensive backs coach.
- The Bills announced they’ve hired John Egorugwu (defensive quality control), Marc Lubik (offensive quality control/assistant QB), Matt Smiley (assistant special teams), and Bill Teerlinck (assistant defensive line). Buffalo also confirmed the previously-reported hiring of former East Carolina wide receivers coach Phil McGeoghan to the same role.
- Mark Uyeyama will not return as the 49ers‘ director of human performance, reports Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Uyeyama was instrumental in developing sports sciences that predated the hiring of Chip Kelly, and had worked under the last five San Francisco head coaches.