Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers have scheduled their first interview with a head coach candidate since the resignation of Mike Tomlin on Tuesday. According to a report by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Steelers will interview Los Angeles Rams assistant coach Nate Scheelhaase on Friday.
By rule, the interview must be virtual, as Scheelhaase and the Rams remain active in the NFL postseason, visiting the Chicago Bears on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. The Steelers will be able to do an in-person interview with Scheelhaase, starting on Monday, Jan. 19 if the Rams lose this weekend, and starting on Monday, Jan. 26 if they win this weekend.
Scheelhaase also has interviews scheduled with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Brows and Las Vegas Raiders.
Scheelhaase was the first person the Steelers requested an interview with for their opening, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN on Wednesday. The 35-year-old is in his first season as the Rams’ passing game coordinator. Before that, he spent one season as an offensive assistant in LA.
A Davenport, Iowa native, Scheelhaase was a college quarterback at Illinois, throwing for over 8,000 yards in his time with the Fighting Illini from 2009-13, and was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in his senior year. He holds the Illinois records for career passing yards and season completion percentage.
Despite his career passing success, he did not pursue a professional career, instead going almost directly into coaching. He started his coaching career at his alma mater as an offensive assistant from 2015-17. He moved to Iowa State, where he worked as running backs coach, wide receivers coach, and offensive coordinator under head coach Matt Campbell from 2018-23.
Scheelhaase is the latest offensive coach to come out of the well-worn Sean McVay coaching tree, including current NFL head coaches Zac Taylor, Matt LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell and Liam Coen.
“I mean, it’s a successful system,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said two years ago, when the team was in the midst of a search for an offensive coordinator. “There’s no two ways about it. Those guys have had a lot of success and their approach to offensive football has been pretty impressive.”
He is the first coach the Steelers have formally requested to interview since the resignation of head coach Mike Tomlin, and he represents a big change from the team’s previous three hires — all of which were on the defensive side of the ball. He also has never held a coordinator title, working under McVay and Mike LaFleur.
“For now, I don’t wanna sort of put any real parameters around it,” Rooney said during a press conference on Wednesday. “We’re gonna be an open book in terms of who we look for and the list that we build. Can I sign up for another Chuck Noll or another Bill Cowher or another Mike Tomlin? Sure. Somebody that we feel fits that mold would be great, but, for now, we’re not gonna narrow the box too much.”
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