Decades of NFL success, including developing seven Pro Bowl linemen, now guide Pittsburgh's young offensive unit.
James Campen has done just about everything in the NFL, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are now asking him to continue developing their relatively young offensive line.
The Steelers have hired Campen as their offensive line coach. He has been in the league for 30 years, beginning in 1986, as a player, assistant coach, and scout.
Campen, 61, spent the last two seasons as a scouting consultant with the Green Bay Packers. Before that, he was an assistant coach for 20 seasons, including 15 with the Packers from 2004-18. New Pittsburgh head coach Mike McCarthy was the Packers’ coach for the last 13 of those seasons.
Campen then bounced from the Cleveland Browns (2019) to the Los Angeles Chargers (2020) to the Houston Texans (2021) to the Carolina Panthers (2022-23) before settling into a scouting role. McCarthy, though, convinced the 61-year-old to return to coaching.
The Packers had seven Pro Bowl offensive linemen under Campen, a list that includes Marco Rivera, Chad Clifton, Scott Wells, Jeff Saturday, Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang, and David Bakhtiari. Green Bay made 10 playoff appearances with Campen on the staff, won eight NFL North titles, and Super Bowl XLV over the Steelers to cap the 2010 season.
Campen was a center in the NFL for eight seasons, three with the New Orleans Saints (1986-88) and five with the Packers (1989-93). He entered the league as an undrafted free agent from Tulane. Campen appeared in 67 career games and started 50, while being penalized 13 times.
Campen is one of five new assistant coaches hired since McCarthy replaced Mike Tomlin on Jan. 27. Campen joins defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, assistant offensive line coach Jahri Evans, running backs coach Ramon Chinyoung Sr., and receivers coach Adam Henry. Pittsburgh has retained quarterback Tom Arth and inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley from Tomlin’s staff.
Tomlin resigned one day after the Steelers’ season ended with a loss to the Houston Texans in an AFC Wild Card playoff game. He finished with a regular-season record of 193-114-2, tying Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the franchise wins record. Pittsburgh went 10-7 this season and won its first AFC North title since 2020.
McCarthy was a head coach with the Packers for 13 seasons from 2006-18 and with the Dallas Cowboys for five seasons from 2020-24. His record is 174-112-2 during the regular season.
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