Since Mike McCarthy was named the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, fans have been anxious to see who would ultimately fill the offensive coordinator position. After the departure of Mike Tomlin, and with McCarthy running the show, Arthur Smith was permitted to seek employment elsewhere—he landed on his feet with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
In the days leading up to the Steelers' OC decision, the focus was on Scott Tolzien. The former backup quarterback and current QB coach of the Saints spent eight combined years with McCarthy in Green Bay, and felt like an obvious choice. However, Tolzien elected to return to New Orleans for the 2026 season.
This left just one name on McCarthy's list at the position: Brian Angelichio.
On Wednesday, Steelers insider Gerry Dulac reported that Angelichio is being named as the new offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Angelichio is a veteran coach with 20 years of combined experience at the college and NFL levels.
Of course, Angelichio has ties to McCarthy. They coached together in Green Bay from 2016 to 2018—before the Packers decided to move in a new direction with head coach Matt LaFleur. After a brief stint with the Carolina Panthers from 2020 to 2021, Angelichio joined the Minnesota Vikings.
Angelichio might not have been the first choice for many Steelers fans, but there's one thing he'ssure to bring to the table in 2026.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could see their tight end production spike with new OC Brian Angelichio
Mike McCarthy made it clear that he would be the coach calling the offensive plays, so this is a responsibility that Angelichio won't take on for the Steelers. But that doesn't mean his role isn't important. The long-time coaching vet has been a tight ends coach for 14 years. Over the past three seasons with the Vikings, Angelichio was both the tight ends coach and passing game coordinator.
Over the years, Angelichio worked with notable tight ends like T.J. Hockenson, Gary Barnidge, and Jimmy Graham. As a college coach at Pittsburgh, he helped develop All-American Dorin Dickerson.
We can assume that the addition of Angelichio will put a major focus on the tight end position. And with that, the Steelers could finally be aiming to exploit the middle of the field.
With the Vikings in 2023, Hockenson recorded 95 receptions on 127 targets for 960 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games. The two-time Pro Bowl tight end's production dipped in each of the past two seasons due to injuries.
Anchelichio's experience working with tight ends is going to feed into McCarthy's approach in the best way possible. In McCarthy's previous stint as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2020 to 2024, he got the most out of tight ends like Dalton Schultz, Blake Jarwin, and Jake Ferguson.
Before hiring Angelichio for the Steelers' offensive coordinator role, McCarthy brought in Cowboys tight end coach Lunda Wells for an interview—so McCarthy clearly has tight end on the mind.
The Steelers have some talent to work with. Pat Freiermuth—who had at least 60 receptions in three of his first four NFL seasons—could see a big production spike with the TE-friendly combination of McCarthy and Angelichio. They will also have Darnell Washington in their arsenal, as the two coaches could put their heads together to figure out how to maximize the big tight end's potential.
Brian Angelichio is hardly the flashiest offensive coordinator hiring the team could have made, and most Pittsburgh Steelers fans probably didn't know anything about him before this move. Still, there's hope the former Vikings tight end coach and passing game coordinator could help this team finally exploit the middle of the field again.