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The Pittsburgh Steelers will once again focus on hiring a new offensive line coach during the upcoming offseason.
Adrian Klemm, who was promoted from assistant offensive line coach in February, has been let out of his contract early in order to begin the same position with the Oregon Ducks under new head coach Dan Lanning, effective immediately on Monday (December 27), the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
On Tuesday (December 28), Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said he decided to let Klemm out of his contract immediately in order to avoid any distractions after it was initially reported that Klemm would finish out the 2021 NFL season with Pittsburgh.
“Let me be clear, I had no reservations about Klemm and his commitment, his willingness to work in detail,” Tomlin said via the Post-Gazette. “But it’s the potential perception that you want to combat whether it’s inside [the organization] or outside. We wanted to eliminate any potential questions that might occur in that regard. This is a critical stage of the season for us. This is a critical week for us. The road is extremely narrow. We’re circling the wagons.”
Klemm was promoted in February after the team decided not to retain former offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett, who now serves as assistant offensive line coach for the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Steelers currently have two games remaining as they find themselves "on the bubble" and ranked 11th in the AFC, four spots out of the last playoff spot with a 7-7-1 overall record.
Pittsburgh will host the Cleveland Browns next Monday (January 3) at Heinz Field before finishing the regular season one the road against the Baltimore Ravens (January 9).