The Pittsburgh Steelers turned to Brian Angelichio, a familiar face to Mike McCarthy, as their new offensive coordinator. Angelichio worked with McCarthy from 2016-2018 with the Green Bay Packers, but from 2022-2025 he was with Kevin O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings. Angelichio has worked with O’Connell at multiple stops, and the Vikings head coach offered high praise for his former assistant today at the NFL owners meetings.
“What always kept coming out was similar philosophical beliefs in how you attack people, specifically in the pass game but [Angelichio] has a really good understanding of the run game, how to marry it together,” O’Connell said via Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show on Twitter. “He’s been vital for me in the red zone in our four years together here. So when you look at it, whether it’s situational football, early down kind of success, how you tie it all together, he is so prepared for this opportunity. It is long overdue for him to get to coordinate.”
O’Connell is considered one of the best offensive minds in the game, so hiring someone who has ties to him and McCarthy makes a lot of sense. Angelichio has primarily been a tight ends coach, breaking into the league in 2012 after following Greg Schiano from Rutgers to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he spent 14 years as an assistant before getting his chance as a coordinator.
He’s worked with and developed a lot of talented tight ends as a position coach, including T.J. Hockenson over the past few seasons while Josh Oliver has also emerged as a solid player at the position. Along with his player development, O’Connell is a big fan of how Angelichio sees the game, and that’s something he also likely shares with McCarthy.
That’s going to be important as while Angelichio is the coordinator, he won’t be calling plays. That’s something McCarthy will do, so the two will need to be united in their game plan and philosophies. Given their time working together, that shouldn’t be much of an issue, and Angelichio seems ready to handle the gig at a high level.
The big question right now is whether Angelichio will work with Aaron Rodgers, whom he knows from their time together in Green Bay, or with another quarterback. Regardless of who it is O’Connell sounds quite confident that Angelichio will do a good job.