The Pittsburgh Steelers parted ways Friday with senior assistant special teams coach Derius Swinton II, removing the coach from staff duties while the team is in the middle of offseason work ahead of the 2026 season.
Interest in derius swinton spiked because the move came during organized team activities and less than a week before mandatory minicamp, after the club had added him to the coaching group in February to work alongside veteran special teams coordinator Danny Crossman.
National sports reporter Adam Schefter wrote: "Pittsburgh Steelers and Sr. special teams coach Derrius Swinton have parted ways due to violation of club policy, per league sources." The team did not release details of the policy breach, and the nature of the violation remains unknown.
Swinton’s departure strips the Steelers of the two-coach special teams arrangement they assembled this offseason. The club had specifically expanded the unit — a rarity in Pittsburgh — when it hired Swinton in February after his recent work with the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Swinton, who finished last season as the Raiders’ interim special teams coordinator after Tom McMahon was fired in November, had spent three seasons as an assistant coach in Las Vegas. His résumé also includes coordinator roles with the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Chargers and stops with the Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs — part of a decade-plus NFL coaching journey that began in 2008.
The friction is stark: Swinton was a fresh hire aimed at bolstering a known weak point, and yet he was dismissed before the new coaching structure could be tested in training camp. The timing — hired in February and out by late May — raises immediate questions about what occurred between his arrival and this decision, especially with players and staff preparing to shift from four OTAs into a mandatory minicamp next week.
For now, the practical consequence is simple. The Steelers will move forward with Danny Crossman as their lone special teams coach during the remainder of OTAs and into minicamp, the team confirmed through league channels. That consolidation leaves Crossman responsible for a phase of the game the club has repeatedly prioritized and which often requires detailed, time-consuming attention during the summer.
The most consequential unanswered question is also the clearest: what specific team policy did Swinton violate? League reporting confirms there was a violation, but the team has not explained its nature, and no disciplinary record or public charge accompanies the announcement. It is also unknown whether Pittsburgh will seek a replacement before training camp or rely on Crossman and existing assistants to absorb Swinton’s planned duties.
For Swinton personally, the dismissal interrupts a career that has moved through 10 different NFL stops and several coordinator opportunities, and it leaves his next step unclear. For the Steelers, the roster and the calendar give little margin for reworking an important coaching role; the club must now decide whether to fill the vacancy or concentrate resources under Crossman as the 2026 season approaches.
