Steelers Continue Staff Overhaul: Mike McCarthy Brings in Frank Cignetti Jr.
Mike McCarthy is wasting no time putting his stamp on the Steelers’ coaching staff. The latest addition? Frank Cignetti Jr., a seasoned offensive mind with deep Pittsburgh roots and a long history alongside McCarthy.
While Cignetti’s exact role hasn’t been publicly defined, the move signals McCarthy’s intent to build a robust offensive brain trust in Pittsburgh-potentially bigger than the one Mike Tomlin oversaw. With Tom Arth already retained as quarterbacks coach, Cignetti could be stepping into a senior offensive assistant role or something similar, bringing decades of quarterback-centric experience to the table.
Cignetti’s résumé is extensive. Most recently, he served as the offensive coordinator at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), following a two-year stint as Pitt’s offensive coordinator from 2022 to 2023.
Before that, he held the same title at Boston College from 2020 to 2021, where he also coached quarterbacks. His NFL experience includes a season in Green Bay in 2018 as McCarthy’s quarterbacks coach, plus earlier stops with the Giants (2016-2017) and the Saints (2000-2001), where he also worked with QBs under McCarthy’s offensive leadership.
The connection between McCarthy and Cignetti runs deep. They were graduate assistants together at Pitt in 1989, and they’ve crossed paths multiple times since. This hire feels less like a reunion and more like a calculated move to bring in a trusted voice who speaks McCarthy’s offensive language fluently.
Football is in the Cignetti family’s DNA. Frank’s brother, Curt Cignetti, just led Indiana to an undefeated 16-0 national championship season.
Their father, Frank Cignetti Sr., was a coaching legend at IUP from 1986 to 2005 and also led West Virginia from 1976 to 1979. It’s a lineage steeped in leadership and quarterback development-something the Steelers will be leaning into as they reshape their identity on offense.
McCarthy’s staff is starting to take shape, and it’s clear he’s prioritizing familiarity and cohesion. Alongside Cignetti, McCarthy has retained a couple of key figures from Tomlin’s staff, including Arth and linebackers coach Scott McCurley. Defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander was also expected to stay, but he took a new role with the Minnesota Vikings as their defensive pass game coordinator and DBs coach.
In addition to Cignetti, the Steelers are reportedly set to bring in Danny Crossman as their special teams coordinator. Crossman, a former All-American and All-Big East cornerback at Pitt in the late ‘80s, shares a history with both McCarthy and Cignetti-they were all at Pitt together in 1989, with McCarthy and Cignetti serving as graduate assistants during Crossman’s final season as a player.
The pattern here is unmistakable: McCarthy is surrounding himself with coaches who know the city, know the system, and know him. That kind of continuity could pay dividends as the Steelers enter a new era under McCarthy’s leadership.