The Steelers have a new offensive coordinator, with the team announcing the hiring of Vikings pass-game coordinator and tight ends coach Brian Angelichio as Pittsburgh’s new offensive coordinator in early
February.
While Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said he’ll be calling plays for Pittsburgh, Angelichio will still play a sizable role in the team’s weekly preparations and gameday operations. The 53-year-old spent the last four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings on 2024 Coach of the Year winner Kevin O’Connell’s staff.
In 2025, the Vikings were 29th in the NFL in passing yards per game and tied for 28th in EPA per pass. But in 2024, with a far more stable quarterback situation with Sam Darnold, Minnesota ranked sixth in passing yards per game and tied for 10th in EPA per pass.
Unlike the other major Steelers coaching hires of Patrick Graham (defensive coordinator) and McCarthy (head coach), Angelichio doesn’t have past NFL experience in the role, making him one of the bigger wild cards on the team’s new staff. To get a better idea of what he’ll be bringing to the Steel City, I chatted with Christopher Gates, the lead writer for SB Nation’s Vikings website The Daily Norseman, earlier this week to figure out what Angelichio’s time in Minnesota was like. You can read my questions and his answers below:
1. As the passing game coordinator and tight ends coach for Minnesota, how noticeable was Brian Angelichio’s role on the Vikings?
Christopher Gates: The Vikings’ passing game has been one that has centered around wanting to take deeper shots when possible, and as the passing game coordinator, Angelichio has played a part in that. As we’ve seen over the past couple of seasons, that has had its benefits and its drawbacks, and it’s largely been dependent on the offensive line play. When the Vikings have been able to protect their quarterbacks, the scheme has been able to get the receivers open for those longer plays and get big chunks of yardage down the field. Guys getting open for the Vikings hasn’t really been the issue over the past couple of seasons, but the execution up front and, sometimes, the execution at quarterback has prevented the offense from being as good as it probably could have been.
2. Similarly, what was the fan/media temperature regarding his time with the Vikings? Was he well-liked, hated, or largely unnoticed?
CG: For the most part, I think he sort of went unnoticed. I don’t think that’s a slight on him or anything. I just think that most fans don’t really get much of a feel for a lot of the coaches beyond the more prominent ones that people talk about (coordinators, maybe the offensive line coach, etc.). I don’t think the feelings about him in Minnesota were terribly strong one way or another, though. Whenever the Vikings replace him, I’m not sure if most folks will notice a whole lot of difference in the offense or anything like that since I assume most guys on the staff are already on the same page as far as how the offense should function.
3. Did Angelichio get much offensive coordinator buzz during his time with the Vikings, or was his departure a bit of a surprise?
CG: He didn’t get a whole lot of offensive coordinator buzz for the Vikings. With Kevin O’Connell basically being in charge of the offense, I don’t think anyone on the staff is going to get that sort of thing as long as he’s here. (Honestly, Wes Phillips is the current offensive coordinator and I don’t think anyone is even really sure of what it is he actually does in Minnesota.) The Vikings have had several guys on the offensive coaching staff in the Kevin O’Connell era who have moved on to bigger roles with other teams, most notably Grant Udinski, who went from being an assistant quarterbacks coach in Minnesota to the offensive coordinator in Jacksonville. He wound up getting some head coaching interest in this last cycle as well. I don’t ever recall hearing that sort of buzz around Angelichio. I’m not sure how much of that has to do with his coaching ability as much as his age. Angelichio is 53 years old, and the trend seems to be to look towards the young “hot shot” coaches that might be able to bring a different perspective to the table.
4. What were the tenets of the Minnesota passing game during Angelichio’s time with the team?
CG: Again, the Vikings seem to want to prioritize the downfield passing game, almost to the detriment of abandoning the short passing game entirely at times. Given the talents of the duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and their ability to get open downfield, it’s understandable to want to take advantage of that. However, the passing game seems to struggle a bit against defenses that have the ability to take that away. Since it doesn’t sound like Angelichio will be calling plays for the Steelers, I’m guessing that whatever philosophies Mike McCarthy has will be prioritized and that Angelichio will be implementing more of the short passing game into things if that’s what McCarthy wants.
5. The Vikings have a number of offensive players hitting free agency this year. Could you see any following Angelichio to Pittsburgh?
CG: If the Steelers need to supplement themselves at wide receiver, they could definitely take a strong look at Jalen Nailor. Nailor has been the #3 guy for the Vikings for most of the time that he’s been here, and he has the ability to grow into a bigger role. He can stretch the field and get open to help take the top off of a defense and allow other receivers to work more underneath. I think he could definitely be a fit for the Steelers. Nailor’s biggest hurdle coming into the NFL had been the injury bug, as he missed a lot of games in college at Michigan State, but he’s only had one significant injury thus far in the NFL. That was back in 2023, when he had a hamstring injury that caused him to miss a big chunk of the season. If he’s gotten past the injury bug, he could be ready to take the leap with a new team.
You can follow Christopher’s Vikings coverage here.
