The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to interview Jason Simmons, who was the defensive pass game coordinator for the Washington Commanders since 2024.
The Commanders fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., but Simmons has drawn rave reviews working under Dan Quinn in Washington.
He was a fifth-round pick out of Arizona State by the Steelers in the 1998 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons with the Steelers in late 90s and early 2000s before heading to the Houston Texans, where he played from 2002 to 2007.
Eventually, Simmons broke into coaching working under McCarthy in Green Bay, starting as a defensive assistant and ascending to secondary coach. He left the Packers in 2019 to join the Panthers as their defensive pass game coordinator.
He has held that title with the Panthers, Raiders, and Commanders, and his experienced style of calling plays could be something that draws McCarthy and the Steelers to him as a candidate.
The other candidate that has been reported for the Steelers is Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Graham has been a defensive coordinator in three different places, and with the Raiders since 2022.
He came up under the Bill Belichick tree before joining McCarthy in Green Bay in 2018.