Get to know offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio, including what he loves about coaching.
What got you interested in coaching:
"I've always loved athletics. I wasn't a good enough player to continue after college. I played small college football and baseball, and I was either going to teach or coach, that's all I really cared to do."
Who was your coaching inspiration:
"My high school coaches were obviously important to me. The opportunities and the experience they provided me certainly got me into this profession."
Describe your coaching style:
"I try to be real, passionate, and honest. I try to let my love for the game show, and try to affect players in a positive way to make them better and just be who I am."
What do you love about coaching:
"I love the interaction with the players, the camaraderie, the coaching. I love putting together a game plan. The stuff that goes along with trying to figure out problems, solutions, and attack opponents. The whole strategic part of it, the development part of, all of it."
Favorite coaching moment:
"One moment I'll never forget is when we (Minnesota Vikings) were down 33-6 against the Colts in the second half and it was the largest comeback in NFL history. And we came back to win that game in overtime (39-36). I have never been a part of a game like that."
Best advice you have received in coaching:
"I think be who you are, be authentic, be yourself, don't try to be someone you're not."
Best advice you give to players:
"I think the biggest thing is you try to keep the players, the process over results, just the training and just trying to build good habits and get better in their fundamentals and take it one day at a time."
Offseason relaxation/reset:
"Spending time with family, trying to get on the water, to the lake as much as I can and just unplug for three or four weeks."
More about Brian Angelichio:
Prior to joining the Steelers, Brian Angelichio spent four seasons (2022-25) with the Minnesota Vikings as the teams passing game coordinator/tight ends coach.
In 2025, tight end T.J. Hockenson had 51 receptions for 438 yards, an 8.59-yard average, and three touchdowns. In addition, tight end Josh Oliver had 15 receptions for 160 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
The Vikings also had prolific receivers in Justin Jefferson, who finished the season with 84 receptions for 1,048 yards and two touchdowns, and Jordan Addison, who despite missing three games, finished the season with 42 receptions for 610 yards, a 14.52-yard average, and three touchdowns. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who missed seven games, completed 140 passes for 1,632 yards and 11 touchdowns.
In 2024, the Vikings were without Hockenson for the first seven games of the 2024 season, but upon his return in Week 9 he had 41 receptions for 455 yards, the fifth-most receptions and sixth-most yards by a tight end in that span. His 11.1-yards per catch also ranked third among tight ends with at least 35 receptions in 2024.
Angelichio helped Hockenson finish second among tight ends in receptions (95) and receptions of at least 20 yards (13) in 2023. He was also tied for second in receiving first downs (48) and fourth in receiving yards (960).
Hockenson's 95 receptions marked the most by a tight end in a single season in franchise history, topping Kyle Rudolph's 83 catches in 2016, and his 95 catches are the 18th most in a single season in NFL history among all TEs. He was also just 45 yards shy of surpassing TE Joe Senser (1,004 receiving yards in 1981) for the most receiving yards by a TE in a single season in franchise history.
The Vikings finished fifth in the NFL in passing yards per game (256.4) in 2023, and were one of just three teams to rank inside the top six in the league in passing yards per game in each of the past two seasons.
In his first season in Minnesota, the Vikings finished sixth in passing yards per game. Hockenson, who was acquired via an in-season trade with the Lions, earned his second Pro Bowl nod. Hockenson had 65 receptions for 730 receiving yards and four touchdowns following the trade.
Prior to joining the Vikings, Angelichio spent two seasons as the tight ends coach for the Carolina Panthers (2020-21).
While in Carolina, he worked with tight ends Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas. Tremble, a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, had 20 receptions for 180 yards and a touchdown in his rookie seasons.
Thomas had 20 receptions for 145 yards in 2020, while also blocking for Christian McCaffrey, who had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage for the first time in his career.
Angelichio spent one season as the tight ends coach for the Washington Commanders (2019) where he helped Jeremy Sprinkle reach career highs in receptions (26), receiving yards (241) and touchdowns (one) at the time.
Coach Mike McCarthy had Angelichio as part of his staff in Green Bay for three seasons (2016-18) as the tight ends coach. Under Angelichio, tight end Jimmy Graham was the Packers second leading receiving in 2018 with 636 yards. Tight ends Jared Cook and Richard Rodgers combined for 648 yards during the 2016 season, when the Packers advanced to the NFC Championship game.
Angelichio spent two seasons (2015-16) as the Cleveland Browns tight ends coach. In 2015, Gary Barnidge had 79 receptions for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns. He led the Browns in receiving and was selected to the Pro Bowl.
Angelichio started in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the team's tight ends coach from 2012-13. Bucs tight end Tim Wright, an undrafted rookie free agent, was the team's second-leading receiver in 2012, with 54 receptions for 571 yards.
Angelichio got his coaching start in the college ranks, including stops at Rutgers (2011), Pittsburgh (2006-10), Ithaca (1996-2005), where he served as offensive coordinator/offensive line coach from 2000-05, and SUNY-Brockport (1995).
Angelichio was a linebacker at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he was a four-year starter.
