Steelers hire Seahawks' Curry as inside linebackers coach

Updated Feb. 22, 2023 11:44 a.m. ET

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Curry is the new inside linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team announced Wednesday.

Curry spent the last four years working in various roles for the Seattle Seahawks, including assistant defensive line/defensive ends coach in 2022.

Curry replaces Jerry Olsavsky, who had been Pittsburgh's inside linebackers coach since 2015. Olsavsky spent more than 20 years with the organization as a player and coach but was not retained for the 2023 season.

Olsavsky's role was diminished last season after the Steelers hired Brian Flores as a senior defensive assistant with an emphasis on linebackers. Flores left the Steelers earlier this month to become the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.

Curry inherits a unit that will enter 2023 in flux. Devin Bush, a first-round draft pick in 2019, and Rob Spillane will become free agents next month.

Bush underperformed following his return from a torn ACL in his left knee suffered in 2020 and saw his playing time all but disappear at the end of the 2022 season. Spillane has been a solid contributor in his four seasons with Pittsburgh and finished third on the team in tackles in 2022 behind fellow inside linebacker Myles Jack and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Curry played four seasons in the NFL after Seattle selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft. He spent two-plus seasons in Seattle before being traded to Oakland during the 2011 season. Curry played seven games for the Raiders through 2012. He attended training camp with the New York Giants in 2013 but did not make the final roster.

Curry's arrival is the latest in a series of moves by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to overhaul his staff. With Olsavsky's departure, the longest-tenured assistant on staff is defensive line coach Karl Dunbar, who joined the Steelers in February 2018.

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