It appears that the Pittsburgh Steelers have chosen a new defender coach now, as NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo is reporting on Thursday that the team is hiring longtime NFL assistant Mike Sullivan for that position.
The # Thieves are hiring longtime NFL assistant Mike Sullivan as their QB trainer, sources say. It’s a role he played with #Giants and #Broncos. Therefore, former QB coach Eli Manning will now work with 2004 team-mate Ben Roethlisberger (assuming Ben returns, of course).
– Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 4, 2021
Sullivan’s most recent role in the NFL was in 2018 as a coach for defenders of the Denver Broncos. Sullivan, 53, has long been an NFL coach, originally entering the professional ranks in 2002 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent most of his professional coaching career with the New York Giants, serving as his wide receivers coach from 2004 to 2009 before switching to the quarterback coach in 2010 and 2011. He had a second stint with the 2015 Giants to 2017, spending the first year as the coach of the defenders and the next two as the offensive coordinator of the team.
Sullivan, who was also the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 and 2013, was recently hired to be the Army’s Recruitment Director. A West Point graduate, he had coached Army football in the late 1990s.
Sullivan will now oversee a Steelers quarterback room in 2021, which includes Ben Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins. The team can also add another defender through the draft or the free agency in the coming weeks or months. He fills the position that Matt Canada held last season. Canada was promoted to offensive coordinator recently after the team decided not to renew Randy Fichtner’s contract.
The Steelers have not yet made official the hiring of Sullivan at the time of this post. This announcement may come on Thursday or Friday.
Mike Sullivan: # Thieves pic.twitter.com/dHx7lvGPJB
– Steelers Depot 🎄 (@Steelersdepot) January 26, 2021
Below is Sullivan’s biography of the Broncos 2018 media guide:
Mike Sullivan trained for 23 years, including 15 seasons in the NFL with Jacksonville (2002-03), NY Giants (2004-11, ’15 -17) and Tampa Bay (2012-13).
He has served as the Giants’ offensive coordinator for the past two seasons under coach Ben McAdoo. In 2017, he took on the offensive game by summoning the team in week 6 and continued with that responsibility for the rest of the year.
In his first season as a Giants offensive coordinator in 2016, the team ended 11-5. Quarterback Eli Manning recorded his fifth season of 4,000 yards under Sullivan and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. placed third in the NFL with 1,367 receiving yards. Prior to his second spell at the Giants, Sullivan spent two seasons (2012-13) as an offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay.
The 2012 squad of Buccaneers featured a 4,000 yard passer (Josh Freeman – 4,065 yards.), A 1,000 yard rusher (Doug Martin – 1,454 yards.) And a 1,000 yard receiver (Vincent Jackson – 1,384 yards). Tampa Bay ended that season in ninth place in the total attack, setting a franchise record with an average of 363.8 yards per game.
Sullivan won two Super Bowls – XLII (2007) and XLVI (2011) – during his first eight seasons with the 2004-11 Giants. He trained wide receivers for six seasons before being elevated to
2010-11 quarterback coach.
In the 2011 Giants Super Bowl season – Manning’s second year working with Sullivan – the quarterback achieved career records in passing yards (4,933) and yards per attempt (8.4). In the four New York playoff games, Manning averaged more than 300 yards per contest and ended the postseason with nine touchdowns against just one interception.
As a wide receiver trainer for the 2004-09 Giants, Sullivan worked with a pair of 1,000-yard receivers on Plaxico Burress (2005, 2007) and Steve Smith (2009). Sullivan began his NFL coaching career in Jacksonville as a defensive quality control coach in 2002 and an offensive assistant in 2003.
He trained for eight seasons in the high school ranks, starting with a graduate assistant position at Humboldt State University in 1993. He trained linebackers in his 1995-96 Army alma mater, before becoming a quarterback coach at Youngstown State University in 1997 -98.
Sullivan returned to the Army to train defensive backs from 1999-2000 and then worked for a season as a defensive back coach at Ohio University before moving to the NFL.
A former Army defender, Sullivan graduated from the US Army Airborne, Ranger and Air Assault schools. He was born on January 28, 1967, in Santa Maria, California.
PRO BOWL COACHED PLAYERS (5): WR Odell Beckham Jr. (2016), WR Vincent Jackson (2012), QB Eli Manning (2011, ’15), RB Doug Martin (2012), WR Steve Smith (2009).