The Pittsburgh Steelers’ new coaching staff features a pass rush coach. In title, Shawn Howe carries the title of an all-encompassing “defensive assistant,” but the team will lean on his knowledge to train up Pittsburgh’s front to get after the quarterback.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, defensive line coach Domata Peko gave Howe a shout when talking about developing DL Derrick Harmon as a rusher.
“[Harmon’s] working with Coach Howe, Shawn Howe, that came in from Montana State,” Peko said in a video provided by the Post-Gazette. “He’s our pass rush guy.”
Howe was hired in February, but this is the first time we’ve heard about his specific role with the team.
NFL teams have increasingly hired pass rush coaches to their staff. Often, they are tabbing “gurus” as headline names who train in each offseason. In 2023, the Baltimore Ravens hired Chuck Smith after he spent years working with Von Miller, Maxx Crosby, and even Steelers like Cam Heyward and Alex Highsmith. This offseason, the Dallas Cowboys brought on Brandon Jordan as a pass rush “consultant” after successful stints in Denver and Seattle.
Howe doesn’t come with quite the same fanfare. Pittsburgh is his first NFL job after spending the previous 21 years at the college level. His most prominent role came as USC’s defensive line coach in 2011 and 2012, coaching the likes of Nick Perry and Leonard Williams. Howe spent the past five years at FCS Montana State and was promoted to lead defensive coordinator in 2025. The program went 14-2 with an excellent defense to capture the FCS championship in a one-point win over Illinois State.
“I’m extremely excited, and I’m extremely excited about some of the people I’m getting ready to be able to be around because they’re pretty elite,” Howe said shortly after taking the job while noting it was bittersweet to leave Montana State.
C.J. Ah You was hired as the team’s outside linebackers coach and will work with Pittsburgh’s deep and talented group of EDGE rushers: T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and Jack Sawyer. But Howe will work with the collective, the defensive line and EDGE rushers, in a way that sounds similar to Denzel Martin’s early role after being hired by the Steelers.
Howe’s aim will be to improve the team’s sack production. Pittsburgh finished with 48 sacks, a serviceable number but below expectations of a 50-plus-sack unit they have the talent to be. That includes working with Harmon, who is looking to build on his three sacks in 12 games last year.