Get to know special teams coordinator Danny Crossman, including the two words that describe his coaching style.
What got you interested in coaching:
"Missing football. When you get done playing, you still want to be involved and I was fortunate that a friend got me involved and it was what I thought was going to be a one-off and here we are all these years later."
Who was your coaching inspiration:
"Not really inspiration, but in school, I played for a lot of really good coaches. John Fox, Scott O'Brien, were some really good college coaches that I had, who ended up being very successful pro coaches, so probably those guys."
Describe your coaching style
"Aggressive, fun."
What do you love about coaching:
"Dealing with the players. A lot of different bodies, a lot of different minds, a lot of different stories, a lot different histories, and trying to get all those things together to create one cohesive unit."
Favorite coaching moment:
"Winning the NFC Championship (with the Carolina Panthers)."
Best advice you give to players:
"Enjoy it, spend time on it. If you want to have the results, it's not going to be easy."
Offseason relaxation/reset:
"Spending time in sunny places with water."
More about Danny Crossman:
Danny Crossman brings 22 years of NFL experience, including 20 years as a special teams coordinator, with him to Pittsburgh. He was most recently with the Miami Dolphins from 2019-24, with the added title of assistant head coach in 2021.
During his time in Miami, the Dolphins had four consecutive winning seasons (2020-23) for the first time since 1997-2003. The team also earned playoff berths in 2022-23, the first back-to-back postseason trips since 1997-2001.
Crossman worked with kicker Jason Sanders with the Dolphins, aiding him in becoming the most accurate kicker in franchise history. In seven seasons, six under Crossman's guidance, Sanders connected on 187 of 221 field goal attempts, 84.6%, and 259 of 268 extra points, 96.6%. Sanders had the longest active PAT streak in the NFL under Crossman, converting 69 straight attempts from Dec. 15, 2019 to Nov. 28, 2021, a total of 31 games.
Crossman spent two seasons coaching Pro Bowl punter Jake Bailey, who averaged 45.7 yards a punt in 2023, with a long of 66 yards, and 47.1 yards per punt in 2024, with a long of 64 yards.
His units were one of just two in the NFL to block a punt in three consecutive seasons (2020-22). Two of the blocked punts were returned for touchdowns, and the third was returned to the one-yard line.
Crossman also worked with punter Thomas Morstead in 2022, and the veteran had one of his best seasons, putting 28 punts inside the 20-yard line, one shy of a career-high. The Dolphins had a blocked punt that season that was returned for a touchdown.
His success with punters also was on display in 2021 with free agent Michael Palardy. Palardy finished third in the NFL with 31 punts inside the 20-yard line, and he ranked fifth in the NFL with 11 punts inside the 10-yard line, and third with five punts inside the five-yard line.
The Dolphins special teams unit was the seventh-best (per veteran sportswriter Rick Gosselin's yearly rankings) in the NFL in 2020, while Sanders earned All-Pro honors trying the franchise points record with 144. He earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice and AFC Special Teams Player of the Month once. Sanders also won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice, and AFC Special Teams Player of the Month once, in 2019. Sanders also threw a touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt, which was named the NFL Bridgestone Clutch Performance Play of the Year at NFL Honors.
Crossman spent six seasons as the special teams coordinator for the Buffalo Bills (2013-18). During his time with the Bills, the special teams unit was ranked second in 2014 and seventh in 2017, per Gosselin's rankings.
Crossman spent three seasons as the special teams coordinator for the Detroit Lions. During his time there, kicker Jason Hansen set a Lions record with 134 points in 2012, the most in his 21-year NFL career.
Crossman got his start in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers as a special teams assistant from 2003-04, before he was promoted to special teams coach (2005-06) and special teams coordinator (2007-09). The Panthers had three postseason appearances during Crossman's time, winning the NFC South twice and the NFC Championship in 2003.
He spent 10 seasons working in college football before moving to the NFL.
Crossman played college football at the University of Pittsburgh where he was an All-American and All-Big East defensive back. He also started at fullback in 1988. Crossman was a team captain and Most Valuable Player his senior season in 1989.
