C.J. Ah You is in his first season as Steelers' outside linebackers coach in 2026. He most recently served as the outside linebackers coach for Texas Tech for four years (2022-25).
With more than a decade of coaching experience at both the collegiate and professional levels, Ah You will enter his second NFL season. He most recently served at Texas Tech (2022-25) and has also coached on the defensive side of the ball at Oklahoma (2014-15), Vanderbilt (2016-18), N.Y. Guardians (2019) and Southern California (2021). In addition, he participated in a minority coaching internship with the L.A. Chargers in 2020.
Over his tenure in Lubbock, Texas Tech made three bowl appearances, captured the first Big 12 title in school history, and appeared in the 2025 College Football Playoff. The Red Raiders were among the Big 12 Conference's most-consistent programs with 24 league wins in the past four years. Texas Tech and Kansas State were the only two conference schools to post a winning league record each season.
In 2025, the Red Raiders recorded the largest year-by-year improvement for both scoring (-23.0 points allowed/game) and total defense (-203.2 yards allowed/game) by any FBS program since 2000. Texas Tech closed the season ranked third nationally for both scoring defense (11.8 points/game) and total defense (258.3 yards allowed/game) to finish with a school record 12 victories. The Red Raiders led the FBS in both rushing defense (68.1 yards/game) and takeaways (32).
Ah You mentored David Bailey in '25, who became the sixth player in program history honored as unanimous All-American. Bailey recorded 52 tackles (32 solo) and led the nation in sacks (14.5) and finished second in TFL (19.5).
The Red Raiders led the Big 12 Conference and ranked 18th in the FBS for tackles for loss per game during Ah You's debut season as Texas Tech capped the 2022 campaign with four-consecutive victories, including a memorable win over Ole Miss in the TaxAct Texas Bowl. Texas Tech recorded eight stops behind the line of scrimmage in the win over Ole Miss with four coming from two emerging members of Ah You's position room in Myles Cole and Isaac Smith. That pushed Texas Tech's season total up to 91.0 tackles for loss, its most since 2003.
Texas Tech's performance in the Texas Bowl came without Tyree Wilson, who flourished under Ah You's direction, developing into a first team All-American and one of the top defensive prospects in the country. Wilson, an All-Big 12 first team honoree, was the Big 12 leader in tackles for loss per game and ranked among the national leaders in that category as well as sacks despite missing the final four games of the season due to injury.
Wilson became the 32nd Red Raider all-time to be named a first team All-American as he was recognized by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) following his final season in scarlet and black. He was the first defensive end or outside linebacker to be honored on a first team All-America list since Montae Reagor in 1998 and was the first to earn All-Big 12 first team honors since Brandon Sharpe in 2009.
His success on the field pushed Wilson up draft boards as he was selected seventh overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2023 NFL Draft, making him the highest-drafted defensive player in program history. Wilson matched Ring of Honor member Donny Anderson as being the second-highest drafted player in program history (all positions) and the highest in the modern era.
Ah You watched one of his pupils hear his name called during the NFL Draft in each of his first two seasons as Cole was selected in the seventh round in 2024 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Cole developed into an NFL Draft selection in two seasons under Ah You after transferring to Texas Tech prior to the 2022 campaign from Louisiana-Monroe.
Prior to his time at Texas Tech, Ah You held a defensive quality control analyst position at USC in 2021. He had been named the defensive line coach at Nevada prior to his hire with the Red Raiders.
Ah You moved to the professional ranks, joining the resurrected XFL in 2019, to serve as the defensive line coach for the N.Y. Guardians in 2019. He later served a minority coaching internship with the L.A. Chargers in the summer of 2020 after the XFL's lone season was canceled earlier that spring due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ah You coached defensive line at Vanderbilt for three seasons (2016-18), where the Commodores made two bowl trips, playing in the 2016 Independence Bowl and the 2018 Texas Bowl.
In his second year with the Commodores (2017), Ah You pupils Jonathan Wynn, Dare Odeyingbo and Dayo Odeyingbo combined for 8.5 sacks and 19 TFL. After the season, Wynn signed an NFL rookie free agent deal with the Minnesota Vikings. Dayo Odeyingbo was selected in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
In 2016, senior lineman Adam Butler contributed a team-high 4.0 sacks under Ah You's tutelage. Butler has now played 129 career games in his eight-year NFL career with New England (2017-20), Miami (2021) and Las Vegas (2023-25).
Ah You came to Vanderbilt after serving two years at Oklahoma. In 2015, Ah You assisted with an Oklahoma squad that finished 11-2, captured the Big 12 Conference championship and played in the College Football Playoff national semifinals. The Sooners' season was highlighted by regular season victories over Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State and Tennessee.
The '15 Oklahoma defense played a significant role in the Sooners' success. Oklahoma's pass rush ranked sixth nationally with 40 sacks and recorded 20 interceptions, eighth most in the NCAA. The unit was dominant against Big 12 competition, ranking among the conference leaders in scoring defense, total defense, defensive pass efficiency, sacks, interceptions and first downs allowed.
Ah You concluded his collegiate career at Oklahoma (2005-06) after beginning at BYU and transferring to Snow College. As a junior in 2005, he was named the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year, then earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2006.
A two-year starter for the Sooners, Ah You started 21 of 26 games and recorded 88 tackles, including 22.0 tackles for loss, 11.0 sacks and four forced fumbles. He was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft and went on to enjoy a five-year NFL career with the Buffalo Bills and Rams.
Ah You was a two-year letterwinner (2001 and 2003) at BYU before earning two more letters at Oklahoma (2005-06). He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from OU in 2006.
Ah You and his wife, Chynea, have four daughters, Makiah, Atiana, Alei'a and Milani.
