The Pittsburgh Steelers are making a ton of progress in putting together the coaching staff for the 2026 season. New head coach Mike McCarthy has been known for his ability to put together a coaching staff. He has been going back to a lot of coaches he has worked with in the past from his stops with the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, but he has also brought in some new faces.
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New Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy during his introductory press conference.
McCarthy has filled out his coaching staff nicely with Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham and other coaches like Joe Whitt Jr. However, there have also been some questionable hires. The most recent one occurred on Wednesday as McCarthy hired Montana State's former defensive coordinator, Shawn Howe, to be Pittsburgh's new outside linebackers coach.
Montana State defensive coordinator Shawn Howe, who has been with the Bobcats since 2021, is set to coach the outside linebackers and edge defenders with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Howe has been the defensive coordinator for Montana State since 2021, and he has never really coached at a big school at the college level. He also has no experience coaching in the NFL, which makes this hire a bit bizarre for Pittsburgh. Howe will be coming in and coaching a talented group, but it is hard to imagine there wasn't a better option out there that already had experience in the league.
Montana Sports
Steelers' new outside linebackers coach, Shawn Howe during his time at Montana State.
Howe is going to be coaching up Alex Highsmith, Jack Sawyer, Nick Herbig, and former Defensive Player of the Year TJ Watt. It is one of the best outside linebacker groups in the league that shouldn't require too much coaching, but the coach is getting his first shot at the NFL. He has coached multiple All-Americans at the college level, but outside of that, his resume is not too impressive. There doesn't seem to be any previous connection between Howe and McCarthy either, so it is an odd hire and it is hard to imagine how he got on the head coach's radar.
The former Montana State defensive coordinator could be a great coach at the NFL level, but there is a lot of unknown surrounding him at the moment. Former outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin was not retained by McCarthy and he has not been hired elsewhere, although he did go through an interview with the Cowboys not long ago.
Steelers Still Have More Questions Than Answers For 2026
This is just part of the major changes that are going on with the Steelers, and it will be interesting to see how everything shakes out as the 2026 offseason continues on. Out of all the hires McCarthy has made so far, this one seems to be the most questionable, but that doesn't mean things won't go well.
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Steelers linebacker TJ Watt goes through warmups on the field prior to kickoff on Christmas Day as Pittsburgh prepares for a highly anticipated holiday matchup.
What do you think of the Steelers bringing in Howe? Let us know in the comments below!
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