{"id":734560,"date":"2026-02-07T00:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T00:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/734560\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T00:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T00:40:11","slug":"domata-peko-reacts-to-being-named-steelers-d-line-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/734560\/","title":{"rendered":"Domata Peko Reacts to Being Named Steelers D-Line Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"categories\"><a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"788\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Syndication-The-Enquirer-24208883.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium tpd-force-16x9-aspect-ratio wp-post-image\" alt=\"Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko\" decoding=\"sync\" loading=\"eager\"   fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Credit: Kareem Elgazzar\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>As Mike McCarthy\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-coaching-staff-tracker-mike-mccarthy-pittsburgh-connections-abound\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">coaching staff<\/a> continues to fall into place, the Pittsburgh Steelers have hired <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/domata-peko\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Domata Peko <\/a>as their defensive line coach.<\/p>\n<p>Peko played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2006-16 and also spent time with the Denver Broncos (2017-18), Baltimore Ravens (2019) and Arizona Cardinals (2020). He played in 214 games during his 15-year career, totaling 616 tackles.<\/p>\n<p>Peko was the defensive line coach for Deion Sanders and Colorado this past season. In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NKKsh9Rjzdc\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NKKsh9Rjzdc\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Thee Pregame Network<\/a>, Peko expressed gratitude in joining the Steelers. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re always blessed when you get an opportunity to elevate,\u201d Peko said. \u201cAnd especially with an organization like Pittsburgh, the Steelers. Don\u2019t get much better than that\u2026 gotta go to the next level and help out coach Mike McCarthy, which is a blessing for me. Spent some time with him in Dallas, and I\u2019m happy to get back to work with him with the Pittsburgh Steelers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/akronjackson\/status\/2018459089815417210?s=46&amp;t=ksNtY9peA8_j67ZEdgZ_fg\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener external nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"(opens in a new tab)\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Peko<\/a> began his coaching career with the Dallas Cowboys in 2024, working as an assistant under former Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI actually started off, it\u2019s called the Bill Walsh Coaches Fellowship,\u201d Peko said. \u201cI was in there as an assistant coach. Just doing the little things in the d-line room. Drawing up cards, different runs. Top runs of the week. Doing some computer things as well, and PowerPoint. Getting some meetings ready for our main d-line coach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the Steelers, Peko replaces <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/long-tenured-steelers-coach-earns-another-nfl-opportunity\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Karl Dunbar<\/a>, who had been the Steelers\u2019 defensive line coach since 2018. <\/p>\n<p>The Steelers\u2019 defensive front includes stalwart <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/cam-heyward\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cam Heyward<\/a>, who will be entering his 16th season, and Keeanu Benton, Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black. Harmon and Black were both drafted last spring and combined for 55 tackles.<\/p>\n<p>Brendan Howe contributed. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/cincinnati-bengals\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/domata-peko\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Domata Peko<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Credit: Kareem Elgazzar\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images As Mike McCarthy\u2019s coaching staff&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":725018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,28932,7,6,57,426,2395],"class_list":{"0":"post-734560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnatibengals","12":"tag-domata-peko","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-steelers-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/725018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}