Ian Rapoport Names Wild Card Candidate for Steelers Head Coach

The head coaching market is inundated with defensive-minded candidates, but the Pittsburgh Steelers could instead go against that trend and look to hire an up-and-coming offensive guru.

With Mike Tomlin out of the picture after stepping down following Pittsburgh's playoff elimination at the hands of the Houston Texans, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport threw out Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase as a potential "wild card" to fill the Steelers' vacancy.

"Jesse Minter is a great one. Young, dynamic, someone who's got a long runway ahead of him. Here's a wild card: Nate Scheelhaase, the Rams' pass game coordinator," Rapoport said on "NFL Insiders." "Kind of fits the mold of Mike Tomlin, but on the other side of the ball, a dynamic personality. Someone that Sean McVay feels is going to be a future head coach. A bit of a wild card, someone who a lot of people aren't sure is ready, but someone who they believe eventually will be a great head coach.

"Kind of sounds like Sean McVay. Sounds like Mike Tomlin, Mike [Garafolo]. We'll see."

Jul 23, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator coach Nate Scheelhaase during training camp at Loyola Marymount University. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Scheelhaase's Background

A former quarterback at the University of Illinois, where he threw for 8,568 yards and 55 touchdowns from 2009 to 2013, Scheelhaase transitioned into coaching once his playing days were over.

After spending nearly a decade in the collegiate ranks as a coach at his alma mater (2015 -2017) and Iowa State (2018 - 2023), Scheelhaase joined McVay's staff in Los Angeles as an offensive assistant and pass game specialist in 2024.

This year, he became the pass game coordinator and had an instrumental role in the Rams' offensive success, which saw Matthew Stafford throw for 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns while the unit as a whole averaged the most yards per game in the league at 394.6.

Why Scheelhaase is a Perfect Candidate for Steelers

In this day and age, teams with head coaches who are more offense-oriented simply have an advantage over those with a defensive background.

Though there's some questions lingering about Scheelhaase's readiness to step into a head coaching role at the NFL level, as Rapoport noted, he's already drawn rave reviews while learning under perhaps the best lead man the league has to offer in McVay.

He's rising up the ranks fast, even while not calling plays, and it's just a matter of time before Scheelhaase does get hired as a head coach.

With interview requests in hand from the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders, the Steelers have to at least do their due diligence and bring Scheelhaase in to see what he's all about.

It would certainly be a bit risky to outright hire him as its next head coach, but that gamble would have the potential to pay off in spades for Pittsburgh as it enters a new era without Tomlin.

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