The Cincinnati Bengals AFC rival team has found themself in trouble. The Pittsburgh Steelers have fired Derrius Swinton II, a senior special teams coach who joined the team just three months ago.

Swinton was let go for a violation of a team policy. NFL expert Adam Schefter shared the news on social media, writing:

“Pittsburgh Steelers and Sr. special teams coach Derrius Swinton have parted ways due to violation of club policy, per league sources,” the tweet read on X.

While the Steelers did not share exact details about what happened, reporter Brooke Pryor from ESPN gave an update.

"Though the Steelers declined to provide the exact violation, Swinton, who was hired as part of new coach Mike McCarthy's staff earlier this year, was dismissed due to workplace misconduct, a team source told ESPN," Pryor reported.

This firing cuts short what was supposed to be a fresh start for Pittsburgh's coaching staff, created by first-year coach Mike McCarthy. Swinton was hired back in February to work under the new special teams coordinator, Danny Crossman. 

Before coming to Pittsburgh, the 41-year-old Swinton had built a long career in the NFL, working for many different teams since 2009. He previously held coaching roles with the Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, and Las Vegas Raiders. 

He even served as the main special teams coordinator for both the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Why Did The Steelers Hire Derius Swinton? Will There Be His Replacement?

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a wild offseason. First, head coach Mike Tomlin unexpectedly quit. To replace him, the team hired Mike McCarthy, who had to quickly put together a brand-new coaching staff.

One of McCarthy's new hires was Derius Swinton II. He was brought in to be the assistant special teams coach, working right alongside the main special teams coordinator, Danny Crossman.

However, after the current firing, fans will never get to see how the two coaches work together.

Now, Coach McCarthy has a tough decision to make. He can either look for a new assistant coach to replace Swinton, or he can let Crossman handle the special teams unit all by himself.

Thankfully, McCarthy has plenty of experience with over 18 seasons as an NFL HC with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. So reports from Heavy.com suggest he can manage it if needed.

Losing a coach so early makes things much harder for McCarthy as he tries to get his new team ready. But the good news is that the season hasn't started yet, so the Steelers have some time to fix this mess. 

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Written by

Aaindri Thakuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason