Get to know inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley, including the advice he gives to players.
What got you interested in coaching:
"It was during my days at Pitt. I had walked on there, earned a scholarship, loved playing but at that point I saw the end of my playing days. I'd been around some good coaches, some good people over there, and I was just able to get in with them, and they were able to get me in as a graduate assistant, and that really started it. It took off from there. It all started from being at Pitt, being in that organization and being around those good coaches who helped me get better. I saw that as my next step."
Who was your coaching inspiration:
"It goes back to even Bob Razzano, a local guy. He was my high school coach at Mohawk High School, and then Larry Coyer, who was the defensive coordinator when I got to Pitt, and my linebacker coach. They were really good teachers, good energy. They knew how to push you and get the most out of you."
Describe your coaching style:
"I'm a teacher first and foremost. I love that part of it. I love being able to take the classroom onto the field. And hopefully, at the same time, I've got good energy."
What do you love about coaching:
"Being around the players, feeling their energy. That's the best part, when we get out here on the field and we are able to coach them, be on the grass with them and teach. I think that's what it's all about."
Favorite coaching moment:
"That would have to be winning the Super Bowl in Green Bay."
Best advice you have received in coaching:
"Enjoy the moment of where you're at. It's so much, you start thinking too far into the future. You think about things that happened to you in the past. I think just staying in the moment and enjoying being with the players is probably the best piece of advice I've got."
Best advice you give to players:
"Just be you. I want to see them in their own play style and who they are show up on tape. It's a cyclical thing of getting better, of staying in the moment. But I just want them to be themselves, go have fun and play."
Offseason relaxation/reset:
"Spending time with my family. I have two boys I'm enjoying being around. I've got a senior in high school now so I'm enjoying whenever I can get home and see them, and a soon to be junior next year. Just enjoying time with the family, being around them and my wife Colleen."
More about McCurley:
Scott McCurley, who is a Western Pennsylvania native, joined the Steelers in 2025 and is entering his 20th season in the NFL. In his first season in Pittsburgh, McCurley helped linebackers Patrick Queen (120) and Payton Wilson (109) lead the team in tackles.
McCurley spent five seasons (2020-24) as the linebackers coach for the Dallas Cowboys and a total of 19 years in the NFL, 16 in a coaching role.
McCurley oversaw the Cowboys linebackers who recorded 22 of the team's 52 sacks in 2024, while Micah Parsons recorded a team-high 12 sacks for the season, becoming the first player since Reggie White in 1982 to record at least 12 sacks in their first four seasons. Parsons went on to be named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl Games in 2024. Cowboys linebacker Eric Kendricks led the team with a career-high 145 tackles, including three tackles for a loss, three sacks and a team-high three forced fumbles, despite missing two games injured.
Injuries caused some shuffling at the linebacker position for the Cowboys in 2023, but the unit responded. Second-year linebacker Damone Clark moved to middle linebacker and led the team with a career-high 115 tackles, including four tackles for a loss. Markquese Bell moved from safety to linebacker and finished second on the team with 103 tackles.
The Cowboys defense was ranked third in rushing touchdowns allowed in 2022 with nine, and ninth in opponent negative rushing play percentage (9.8%). Leighton Vander Esch started 14 games, finishing second on the defense with 100 tackles, while Anthony Barr had 61 tackles. Rookie Damone Clark also stepped up under McCurley's guidance, and after missing the first seven games of the season injured, he recorded 50 tackles and two forced fumbles.
In 2021, first-round pick Micah Parsons set a Cowboys' rookie record with 13 sacks, tied for third-most in NFL history, and was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Vander Esch and fellow linebacker Keanu Neal also had strong seasons and were second and third respectively on the team in tackles.
McCurley first broke into the NFL with the Green Bay Packers with Coach Mike McCarthy where he spent 13 seasons in multiple roles. He started off in coaching administration (2006-08) before spending five seasons as a defensive quality control coach (2009-13). McCurley was the team's assistant linebackers coach from 2014-17 and in 2018 was a defensive assistant.,
McCurley, who was born in New Castle, Pa. and attended Mohawk Area High School, joined the University of Pittsburgh football team as a walk-on linebacker and went on to earn a scholarship after his red-shirt season. He was a four-year letterwinner (1999-2002) and graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in movement science with a coaching minor. He spent three years as a graduate assistant at Pitt, before breaking into the NFL ranks.
