With former special teams coordinator Danny Smith taking a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a hole to fill for Mike McCarthy’s new staff. The team interviewed former Buffalo Bills special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley for their special teams coordinator opening, per a report by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The Steelers interviewed former Bills special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley for their STC opening, per source.

Smiley has coached NFL special teams since 2013.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 1, 2026

The 47-year-old Smiley has been in the NFL since 2013. Then, he took a job as the assistant special teams coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, a role he held until 2016. From 2017-2021, he was the assistant special teams coordinator in Buffalo before becoming the Bills’ special teams coordinator in 2022. The Bills let him go after last season, and he spent the year out of football.

Initially, then-Bills head coach Sean McDermott announced that they would retain Smiley for the 2025 season, but they let him go shortly after. The Bills replaced him with Chris Tabor, but Tabor lasted just one year. He exited when the Bills let McDermott go. The Bills hired Jeff Rodgers as their new special teams coordinator this week.

Smiley got his start in the college ranks as the quarterbacks coach at Dartmouth in 2005. He’s had stops at Eureka, Eastern Illinois, and Charleston Southern, where he was the running backs coach and special coordinator in 2012. Then, he leaped into the NFL.

Smiley’s interview is the first reported interview for the Steelers’ special teams coordinator opening. Smiley’s special teams unit in his last year in Buffalo struggled. The team allowed the fifth-highest yards per kickoff return at 30.8 and also allowed a punt-block return touchdown and a kickoff return touchdown. In 2023, the Bills ranked 28th in Rick Gosselin’s special teams rankings. But they were No. 5 in the 2022 iteration, Smiley’s first season running the Bills’ special teams.

The Steelers announced the hire of defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, but they still have an opening at offensive and special teams coordinator. Lunda Wells and Scott Tolzien have reportedly interviewed for the offensive coordinator opening. The Steelers’ staff should start to fill out this week, as a week has passed since McCarthy was announced as the team’s new head coach.