The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2023 NFL season with a near completely revamped inside linebacker corps. Players who had the lion share of the snaps the previous year in Devin Bush, Myles Jack, and Robert Spillane, were no longer with the team. Both Bush and Spillane left in free agency and Jack became a salary cap casualty. The only player returning from the previous season who had played any snaps at inside linebacker was 2022 seventh-round draft pick Mark Robinson.

The Steelers made their changes at the position by signing both Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts early in the free agency period. The Steelers then added Kwon Alexander early in training camp. Although it was a new unit, Steelers fans were hopeful that they would see improved play for the 2023 season.

But the change in personnel was not the only change that occurred when it came to the Steelers inside linebackers. After not retaining coach Jerry Olsavsky, the Steelers hired Aaron Curry to take over the job of coaching the inside linebackers.

Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the fourth overall pick in 2009, Curry did not have the NFL career of a player drafted in the top five. After 2 1/2 seasons in Seattle, Curry was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a fifth-round and seventh-round draft pick. The following season, Curry only appeared in two games for the Raiders and did not play another NFL snap before retiring at the end of August in 2013.

But that was not the end of football for Curry.

Returning to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as a graduate assistant in 2014, Curry was promoted to the defensive line coach the following season. Curry joined the Seattle Seahawks as a coach in 2019. But this past February, Curry was hired as the inside linebackers coach of the Steelers.

For the 2023 season, the success of the Steelers inside linebackers is open for debate. While some fans wished to see more early on, others were pleasantly surprised by the usage of Holcomb, Roberts, and Alexander. Although some of it could be attributed to coaching, most fans simply realized they were new names to the Steelers and thought they had found the right personnel.

But when Cole Holcomb was lost for the season in Week 9 against the Tennessee Titans and Kwon Alexander suffered the same fate the following game, the Steelers went from being in a great situation at inside linebacker to scraping together what they could.

The Steelers and signed linebacker Mykal Walker to the practice squad at the very end of October ahead of Holcomb‘s injury. Having plenty of NFL experience playing the previous three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as a former fourth-round draft picks, Walker was called on to help fill the role alongside Elandon Roberts.

With Walker getting kudos for getting up to speed and filling in admirably the last two weeks, and Elandon Roberts stepping up and playing 100% of the snaps over the last two games, the Steelers do not appear to be lacking at the inside linebacker position at this time. The Steelers also added Blake Martinez from the Carolina Panthers practice squad as well as bringing back to veteran Myles Jack for their own practice squad. Additionally, Tariq Carpenter has been elevated from the practice squad the maximum of three times in order to add game-day depth. So while the Steelers have been dealing with loss at the position, they have been doing everything they could to restock players.

But what has allowed the Steelers to roll into the “next man up” mentality at the position?

As is sometimes the case, having a different position coach for a season can be overlooked. With all the new players the Steelers had at inside linebacker this year, there’s probably many Steelers fans who couldn’t even name the Steelers inside linebacker coach. But after suffering two season-ending injuries at the position, the Steelers are, for now, holding strong at the position. And for doing so, inside linebackers coach Aaron Curry deserves some appreciation for keeping things rolling at the position.