Monday, February 2
The Steelers named Jason Simmons defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs, Scott McCurley inside linebackers coach and Steve Scarnecchia chief of staff on Monday.
Simmons, who played for the Steelers, spent the last two seasons as the defensive pass game coordinator for the Washington Commanders and is entering his 16th season in the NFL. While with the Commanders, the pass defense was ranked third in the NFL in 2024, allowing 189.5 yards per game. Their opponents completed only 61.9% of their passes, ranking fourth in the NFL.
Prior to his time in Washington, Simmons was the defensive backs/pass game coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders for two seasons (2022-23). His unit was responsible for three of the Raiders' five defensive touchdowns in 2023.
Simmons was the pass game coordinator/secondary coach for the Carolina Panthers from 2020-21. Under his guidance, safety Jeremy Chinn was named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team in 2020, leading all rookies with 116 tackles, while also winning Defensive Rookie of the Month honors twice.
He got his start in coaching in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers under Coach Mike McCarthy, spending nine seasons with the team.
He spent four seasons as a coaching administrator (2011-14), before being the assistant special teams coach for three seasons (2015-17). Simmons was the secondary coach in 2018, and the defensive backs coach in 2019.
Simmons was drafted by the Steelers in the fifth round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons with the Steelers, before signing with the Houston Texans in 2002, where he spent six seasons.
Simmons appeared in 212 games in his career, recorded 186 tackles, 10 passes defensed, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, two sacks and two interceptions.
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.
Scarnecchia is entering his 17th season in the NFL, his sixth in the role of chief of staff. He spent the last two seasons (2024-25) as chief of staff for the Atlanta Falcons, and the previous three seasons (2121-23) in the same role with the New York Jets. He also was the assistant to the head coach with the Falcons from 2015-20.
In his roles in Atlanta and New York, he was responsible for coordinating the team's daily meetings and practice schedules and the overall football activities calendar. In addition, he established the budget for football operations and scheduling practices and organized team and staff events and provided administrative assistance to the coaching and operations staff.
