With first-year head coach Mike McCarthy calling offensiveplays for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the open offensive coordinator position wasn’t overly attractive.
In the end, though, the Steelers landed a highly-regarded coach in Brian Angelichio. He has experience working with McCarthy dating back to their days in Green Bay. Angelichio won’t call the plays, but he will game-plan the offense and oversee it.
Teaching will be a key aspect of the role, and that’s why McCarthy acquired him for the position. Speaking with reporters Tuesday at the NFL Owners meetings in Arizona, McCarthy defined Angelichio’s role. He spoke glowingly about his new coordinator.
“Brian is an outstanding football coach. Coordinating is probably the toughest job in the NFL, going along with the play-calling. So to have someone that’s like Brian that I’m aligned with…he’s got a ton of experience, he is a great teacher, he is a glue guy,” McCarthy said of Angelichio, according to video via the team’s website. “His knowledge base is as high as anybody you’d sit down and talk football with. He’s been in different systems, so he’ll do the everyday coordinator things, and I’ll do it alongside…him.
“…For me to have the confidence I have in him in year one shows what I think of him, because normally that’s something you evolve to.”
It’s going to be a tough role for Angelichio, but he’s largely familiar with it from his time in Minnesota. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell raved about Angelichio onMonday and was happy to see his former passing game coordinator and tight ends coach get this opportunity.
While he didn’t call plays for the Vikings, he constructed the passing game’s plan for O’Connell, which Minnesota has used to some success in recent years.
Now, he’ll take on a larger role with the Steelers, reuniting with McCarthy in the process.
We’ll see how things balance out with Angelichio overseeing the offense but not calling the plays. It’ll be new for the Steelers, especially on offense. But McCarthy is confident everything will work out, considering he has done this before in both Green Bay and Dallas.
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