The Pittsburgh Steelers underwent a major coaching overhaul this offseason. After parting ways with long-time head coach Mike Tomlin, it was announced that Mike McCarthy would be named the new Steelers HC. Once McCarthy arrived, a few more changes were made to the coaching team, with Derrius Swinton being one of them, as he was named as one of the special teams coaches. However, that position is now vacant once again, with Swinton no longer a part of the organization.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers fired Swinton on Friday, May 29, because of a violation of club policy, as revealed by league sources. However, no details have been disclosed regarding the specific policies the veteran NFL coach allegedly violated. That leaves Pittsburgh with another vacancy to fill on its coaching staff at senior special teams coach.

The 41-year-old coach has experience on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, along with an extensive background in special teams. He joined the Steelers in February as an assistant to the special teams coordinator, Danny Crossman. Most recently, Swinton served as the Las Vegas Raiders’ assistant special teams coach from 2023 through 2025 and was later promoted to interim special teams coordinator during the 2025 season.

During that same stretch in Las Vegas, Patrick Graham served as the Raiders’ defensive coordinator and is now Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator. Both Swinton and Crossman were brought in by the Steelers this offseason. And with Swinton now gone, Crossman remains the lone special teams coach currently on Pittsburgh’s coaching staff.

The Steelers were set to become the tenth NFL team Swinton would work for entering the 2026 season, as the 41-year-old coach has been coaching in the league since 2009.

Outside of the 2016 season with the San Francisco 49ers and the 2021 season with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he served as special teams coordinator in both stops, and the 2018 season with the Detroit Lions, where he worked as an offensive assistant, Swinton had spent every other season as an assistant special teams coach.

The decision certainly leaves the special teams unit of the Steelers with a few questions in the offseason. Similar to the coaching staff, there has been a huge overhaul, even with the players on the special team.

The Steelers enter the 2026 season with a special teams overhaul

The Steelers lost veterans such as safety and special teams standout Miles Killebrew, punter Corliss Waitman, and Connor Heyward in the offseason, as they signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders, respectively. From the 2025 group, it is only kicker Chris Boswell who has stayed on after recently signing a new contract extension this offseason.

At the same time, the Steelers enter the 2026 season coming off a year in which their kicking and coverage units were solid, but the return game lacked consistency. Boswell remained one of the strongest parts of the special teams unit, as Pittsburgh converted 42 of 43 extra points for a 97.3% success rate and made 27 field goals at an 84.4% clip during the regular season.

The kickoff return unit was productive, though not among the league’s elite. Pittsburgh averaged 24.19 yards per kickoff return, finishing with 1,524 kickoff-return yards on 63 attempts. The punt return game, however, was one of the weaker areas of the roster. The Steelers averaged just 8.8 yards per punt return, totaling 247 punt-return yards and failing to score a touchdown.

The Steelers addressed their return specialist need by selecting Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. That said, Pittsburgh is not entering the season with sweeping changes across the special teams unit. At this point, the biggest question mark surrounds the coaching staff following the dismissal of Derrius Swinton.