Steelers Now
Three former members of the Pittsburgh Steelers could be in the mix to be the next offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions. The Chicago Bears officially announced the hiring of Ben Johnson as their next head coach on Tuesday, meaning that Lions head coach Dan Campbell will need to replace his offensive playcaller for 2025.
Former Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery and center Hank Fraley are all among the internal candidates that could replace Campbell on the Lions coaching staff.
Montgomery is currently the Lions assistant head coach and running backs coach. The 46-year-old former NFL wide receiver was the wide receivers coach for the Steelers under Mike Tomlin from 2010-12. After that, he returned to his alma mater, Duke, for a three-year stint as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Montgomery was then the head coach at East Carolina from 2016-18 and the offensive coordinator at Maryland from 2019-20.
From there, Montgomery returned to the NFL, first as running backs coach with the Indianapolis Colts from 2021-22 and then moved to the Lions staff in 2023, taking over for Duce Staley who left for the same position with the Carolina Panthers.
Randle El was a second-round pick of the Steelers in the 2002 NFL Draft and spent four seasons in Black and Gold, throwing a touchdown pass in the team’s Super Bowl XL win over the Detroit Lions. He signed as a free agent with the Washington Redskins in 2006, and returned to Pittsburgh for a final stint in 2010, with his final game coming in the team’s Super Bowl XLV loss to the Green Bay Packers.
He started coaching in 2019, under former Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he joined Dan Campbell’s staff in Detroit in 2021.
Fraley, 47, is a Robert Morris alum that joined the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2000. He did not make the team coming out of training camp, and was claimed on waivers by the Philadelphia Eagles. He spent the next six seasons in Philly, becoming the Eagles starting center. Fraley was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2006, and played his final NFL season with the St. Louis Rams in 2011.
Fraley started coaching offensive line at the University of San Diego in 2012, then moved to San Jose State for one season in 2013 before returning to the NFL as an assistant offensive line coach with the Minnesota Vikings in 2014. Fraley returned to the college ranks for one season with UCLA in 2017 before joining the Lions staff as assistant offensive line coach in 2018. He was promoted to offensive line coach in 2020 and held over on the staff when Campbell took over in 2021.
It looks like in addition to a replacement for Johnson, the Lions will also have to find a new defensive coordinator, as Aaron Glenn has in-person interviews this week for the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints head...
