As an average Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I’m always excited when a former player rejoins the team as a coach.
Jason Simmons started his NFL career as a defensive back drafted out of Arizona State University back in 1998. Now at age 50, he’s returned as the Steelers’ defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach. Full-circle moments like these feel special.
He started with Pittsburgh and now rejoins the man who gave him his first NFL coaching opportunity – Mike McCarthy.
Simmons played quarterback in high school before transitioning fully to DB. A four-year letterman at Arizona State, he earned second-team All-Pac-10 honors as a senior.
Impact Player
The Steelers selected him in the fifth round (137th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft — the same year they took Deshea Townsend in the fourth. Simmons played 49 games wearing the Black and Gold from 1998 to 2001, primarily in dime packages and on special teams.
He recorded 72 tackles, one fumble recovery, and several key forced fumbles: one as a rookie leading to a field goal in a three-point win (Levon Kirkland forced another fumble to set up the game winning score in the same game), a 2000 forced fumble on a Ravens kick return (recovered by Scott Shields, setting up Kris Brown’s game-winning FG in a 9-6 victory), and his fourth career forced fumble that punched the ball out at the 2-yard line, preventing a 32-yard TD and resulting in a touchback.
He played in Bill Cowher’s 3-4 scheme. He credits veteran players who helped him understand the defense for his coaching today. In a recent interview with reporters, he credited those teammates for forming his coaching philosophy.
“You talk about guys on the offensive side like Jerome Bettis, Levon Kirkland on defense, and (Carnell) Lake, and Darren Perry. The veterans helped you understand the structure of defense and how it was put together and what everybody did, along with all the great coaches that we had.”
After four years in Pittsburgh, he signed with the expansion Houston Texans in 2002 and played six more seasons (2002–07).
From Player to Coach
Mike McCarthy hired Simmons as a coach administrator with the Green Bay Packers in 2011. Simmons spent nine seasons in Green Bay in increasingly senior roles, including defensive assistant, secondary coach, assistant special teams coach and defensive backs coach.
After McCarthy’s departure, newly hired Matt Lafleur retained Simmons as defensive backs coach, merging the cornerback and safety rooms into one for all defensive backs. Simmons’ coaching contributed to strong secondary performances (top-5 rankings in INTs and passing TDs allowed).
Building Coaching Resume
The Carolina Panthers hired Simmons as their defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach (2020–21).
Head coaching changes saw him move on. First with the Las Vegas Raiders (2022–23), then with the Washington Commanders (2024–25), where he dramatically improved their pass defense. The Commanders were 32nd in 2023 and third in opponent passing yards per game in 2024, though things fell back off in 2025.
Back in Black and Gold
Simmons returned to Pittsburgh in 2026 as defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach under new head coach Mike McCarthy — reuniting with his former Steelers roots and Packers-era boss.
He’ll work with Joe Whitt, who was the Commanders’ defensive coordinator in 2024-25. Whitt also coached alongside Simmons (and McCarthy) in Green Bay as a secondary/cornerback coach during Simmons entire time there, except for his final season.
New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has been bonding with the defense through old-school hip-hop. He assigns players Thursday reports on groups such as De La Soul, Outkast, and Goodie Mob. All three were hitting their stride or releasing major music exactly when Simmons was playing for the Steelers (1998–2001). Outkast dropped Aquemini in 1998 and Stankonia in 2000; Goodie Mob released Still Standing (1998) and World Party (1999); and De La Soul remained influential throughout.
Simmons and Graham were never on the same team together, but should be on the same page culturally. That shared love of music should help Simmons connect quickly with today’s players while teaching the same relentless mindset he brought as a player.
Your Song Selection
I always like to include a bit of music. Here is “Hey Ya” performed by OutKast — a perfect bridge between Simmons’ playing days in the late ’90s/early 2000s and the music defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is using to build the defense today.
Conclusion
Simmons sees himself passing on the Steelers’ traditions:
“My role in passing on the tradition, it’s about keeping football first,” he told reporters. “That’s what this place is. It’s not about the glitz and glam. It’s about the ball. It’s competing. It’s all about communication. It’s about accountability and keeping that first. That’s my part of this tradition.”
Hires like Jason Simmons give me confidence in the new McCarthy era. He’s proof that the Steelers way travels well, and sometimes comes back stronger. I can’t wait to see what he does with the defensive backs in 2026.
No one can predict the future, but having a guy like Simmons back in the building feels like the right step. Here we go.
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