Former Steelers special teams coordinator Al Everest was fired by the Steelers on Thursday, a move he called a “shocker” during a conversation with Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Friday.
Everest wasn’t the only one shocked by the move. It’s very rare to see a team make a coaching change of any sort just before the start of the regular season and even more surprising given the performance of Everest’s units last season. They were right in the middle of the pack when it came to covering kicks and punts and Antonio Brown went to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist.
While Everest, who plans to remain in coaching, didn’t air any dirty laundry about his departure, but he did say that it had nothing to do with the decision to remove Brown from the return units this season.
“It was professional differences, and let’s leave it at that,” Everest said. “It was professional differences.”
Everest has been replaced by his former assistant, Amos Jones. Jones has been with the team since 2007, predating Everest, and he had worked with head coach Mike Tomlin at the University of Cincinnati earlier in their careers.