As we’ve done every year since 2022, we’re comparing and contrasting the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coaching staff size to the rest of the NFL. For the first time in this annual study, the Steelers have a new head coach and a mostly brand-new staff. Is Mike McCarthy’s group constructed any differently?

A reminder of how I compile the data. Using each team’s coaching staff page, I divide the coaches into offensive, defensive, and special teams depending on how they’re titled and designated. This only counts on-field position/unit coaches. It does not count Chief of Staff or data analysts. It also excludes the strength and conditioning staff, an important but separate category.

I also recognize teams may have members on staff who don’t have an official title. Ryan Shazier was a local example of that. But to keep it consistent, I only base the list off who the team officially recognizes on its staff page.

The table is below. For those wondering why the total is one more than the offensive/defensive/special teams, it’s because the head coach doesn’t count into any one of those unit buckets, but he’s obviously part of the total.

Team
Total Coaches
Off. Coaches
Def. Coaches
ST Coaches

San Francisco 49ers
28
13
11
3

Las Vegas Raiders
28
13
11
3

Cleveland Browns
28
14
11
2

Los Angeles Rams
26
14
9
2

Seattle Seahawks
26
12
11
2

Washington Commanders
26
13
9
3

New Orleans Saints
26
13
10
2

Minnesota Vikings
26
13
10
2

Indianapolis Colts
26
10
9
3

Buffalo Bills
26
12
11
2

Miami Dolphins
26
12
10
3

Philadelphia Eagles
25
11
10
3

Carolina Panthers
25
12
9
3

Green Bay Packers
25
12
9
3

Denver Broncos
25
12
9
3

Jacksonville Jaguars
25
12
10
2

Houston Texans
25
11
11
2

New York Jets
25
12
9
3

Baltimore Ravens
25
11
10
3

Arizona Cardinals
24
10
9
2

Detroit Lions
24
12
9
2

Chicago Bears
24
11
10
2

Dallas Cowboys
23
11
9
2

Atlanta Falcons
23
11
9
2

Los Angeles Chargers
23
11
9
2

New England Patriots
23
11
9
2

New York Giants
22
10
9
2

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
22
11
8
2

Tennessee Titans
22
10
9
2

Cincinnati Bengals
21
10
8
2

Kansas City Chiefs
21
10
8
2

Pittsburgh Steelers
21
10
8
2

Despite the coaching change, Pittsburgh still has a small coaching staff. The Steelers are tied with the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs with 21 coaches. It is an increase over Mike Tomlin’s crew. Here’s the yearly breakdown.

Year
Total Coaches
Off. Coaches
Def. Coaches
ST Coaches

Steelers 2022
18
9
7
1

Steelers 2023
19
10
7
1

Steelers 2024
19
10
7
1

Steelers 2025
19
10
7
1

Steelers 2026
21
10
8
2

Pittsburgh has the same number of offensive coaches as the previous three years, though Mike McCarthy’s offensive background provides a clear advantage to that side of the ball. Pittsburgh has eight defensive coaches for the first time in our study. That tracks, given that Mike Tomlin was always the “eighth” defensive coach.

For the first time in more than a decade, Pittsburgh also has a second special teams coach. The team only had Danny Smith during his entire tenure. It’s worth noting Smith’s new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, now has two, although the second is Smith’s nephew Luke Smith. Pittsburgh hired Luke Smith last year but labeled him under the offensive coaching staff category. Now, the Bucs have him labeled as a special teams assistant.

McCarthy’s 21-man group is smaller than his Dallas norm. In 2024, he had 23 coaches. In 2023, he had 24. And in 2022, he had 21, although NFL coaching staffs have grown since then, as you’ll see below. Having 21 coaches back then was larger than it is today.

Some NFL-wide takeaways. Interestingly, no team has more defensive coaches than offensive ones. In fact, the Houston Texans are the only team to have an equal number: 11 on offense and 11 on defense plus defensive-minded head coach DeMeco Ryans. The other 31 teams, Pittsburgh included, have more offensive coaches than defensive ones.

No team has more than 11 defensive coaches. Half the league, 16 teams, have at least 12 offensive coaches.

In the previous four years, the Miami Dolphins tied or outright held the lead for the largest coaching staff. Not anymore. The San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Cleveland Browns all have 28 coaches – the first time any team in our study has grown to 28. Miami dropped from 27 coaches the past four years to 26 under new head coach Jeff Hafley.

The Browns have the largest upward shift of any team, going from 22 coaches under Kevin Stefanski last year to 28 under Todd Monken this year. The Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons had their staffs reduced by three under their new head coaches.

Although it isn’t true for Cleveland, teams with younger, newer head coaches generally have larger coaching staffs than older, more veteran ones. First-time head coach Klint Kubiak beefed up the Raiders’ group, for example, while veteran coaches litter the bottom of the list: John Harbaugh with the Giants, Robert Saleh with the Titans (Saleh isn’t old but a second-time HC who has coached since 2002), Todd Bowles with the Buccaneers, Andy Reid with the Chiefs, and McCarthy with the Steelers.

As we compile annually, here are the league averages by year.

Year
Total Coaches
Offensive Coaches
Defensive Coaches
ST Coaches

2022
21.7
9.8
8.4
2.3

2023
23.0
10.8
8.8
2.3

2024
23.7
11.4
9.0
2.3

2025
23.9
11.4
9.3
2.3

2026
24.5
11.6
9.5
2.3

For the first time, the coaching staff average has crossed 24. Offensive and defensive coaches continue seeing slow but steady growth. Compared to our 2022 study, teams have nearly two more offensive coaches now and more than one more defensive coach.

Special teams coaches have remained remarkably steady, although more teams employ three of them this year (11) than last year (nine). If you want to get technical, last year’s special teams number was 2.25, which rounded up to 2.3. This year’s was 2.34, which rounded down to 2.3. So there’s growth, and Pittsburgh’s addition of a second coach helped.

Using last year’s data, is there any correlation to success? We’ll split it between those with 25 or more and 24 or less.

25 Or More: 115-105-1 (.523 winning percentage) & 46.2 percent playoff rate
24 Or Less: 155-166-1 (.483 winning percentage) & 42.1 percent playoff rate

The data points in favor of a larger coaching staff. But the difference isn’t dramatic and still hasn’t been consistent throughout my study. Last year, the smaller coaching staffs won more frequently.

My repeated conclusion is that a large coaching staff is not especially helpful to winning, nor is a smaller coaching staff detrimental. The quality of the coaches, and of course the players, still means far more than the volume.  This should soothe those critical of the Steelers for again having one of the NFL’s smallest groups.