With Mike Munchak leaving the Steelers to coach the Broncos offensive line, incumbent Shaun Sarrett takes over in Pittsburgh.
Shaun Sarrett is a name that probably hasn’t resonated with Steelers fans yet, and I’m willing to bet that a majority of Pittsburgh die-hards wouldn’t recognize him if they saw him on the street. Nonetheless, Sarrett is the man in charge of the offensive line now.
Sarrett was an offensive assistant coach from 2012-2017, and worked mainly alongside Mike Munchak in coaching the offensive line. In 2018, Sarrett was promoted to assistant offensive line coach, and was part of the team responsible for producing three Pro Bowl offensive lineman this past season.
With Munchak’s decision to leave Pittsburgh and return home to Denver to coach for the Broncos, Pittsburgh elected to promote Shaun Sarrett to the offensive line coach for the Steelers.
Here’s what Head Coach Mike Tomlin had to say about Sarrett:
"“We are excited to promote Shaun to coach our offensive line. We have full confidence in his coaching abilities, and we look forward to him using his experience as he has been preparing for this opportunity to take on the challenges that will be presented to him.”"
Sarrett has spend the past five years working under quite possibly the best offensive line coach in the league. Munchak’s departure was perhaps the most detrimental to the Steelers, and Pittsburgh consistently produced one of the league’s best offensive line units with him at the helm.
Maurkice Pouncey recently spoke of Shaun Sarrett in an interview, and compared his style to Mike Munchak’s:
Maurkice Pouncey on the Steelers offensive line after Mike Munchak's departure to the Broncos:
— Allan Bell (@AllanBell247) May 29, 2019
"He coaches the same exact way, probably yells at us a little bit more than Munch did."#HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/2kn0lPBqCN
Having spent so much time with Mike Munchak, the hope is that Shaun Sarrett could be his ‘Jedi apprentice’ in waiting, so to speak. Teaching technique to offensive lineman is something that doesn’t come easy, and we have seen talented offensive lines like the Dallas Cowboys struggle without good coaching.
It’s impossible to say how Shaun Sarrett will end up being as the head of the Steelers offensive line, but if he can be anything close to Mike Munchak, I will take that in a heartbeat.