2015 Pittsburgh Steelers season

2015 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach Mike Tomlin
General manager Kevin Colbert
Owner The Rooney Family
Home field Heinz Field
Timeline
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The 2015 Pittsburgh Steelers season will be the franchise's upcoming 83rd season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League. It will also mark the 16th season under leadership of general manager Kevin Colbert and the ninth under head coach Mike Tomlin. For the first time since 2002, safety Troy Polamalu will not be on the opening day roster, as he announced his retirement on April 9.[1]

2015 draft class

Main article: 2015 NFL draft
2015 Pittsburgh Steelers Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 22 Bud Dupree Linebacker Kentucky
2 56
3 87
4 121
5 160
6 199
6 212
7 239
Compensatory selection

Staff

2015 will mark a transition period for the Steelers defense, as longtime defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau resigned January 10.[2] A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame due to his 14-year playing career with the Detroit Lions, LeBeau served 13 seasons as the Steelers defensive coordinator under Tomlin and his predecessor Bill Cowher over two stints (1995–1996 and 2004–2014), and whose zone blitz defense ranked within the Top 5 in the NFL in total defense in 11 of those 13 seasons. At the time of his resignation, LeBeau was the NFL's longest-active tenured defensive coordinator. LeBeau, 77, mentioned that it was a "resignation, not retirement."[3][4]

On January 13, longtime linebackers coach Keith Butler was promoted to succeed LeBeau.[5] Butler stated that the team will continue to run the 3–4 defense as its primary package, but will also run some 4–3 packages, essentially converting the system to a hybrid 3–4.[6] The Steelers have run the 3–4 since 1982, the longest such use of the 3–4 in NFL history.

Pittsburgh Steelers staff
Front Office
  • Chairman – Dan Rooney
  • President – Art Rooney II
  • Vice President – Art Rooney, Jr.
  • General Manager – Kevin Colbert
  • Director of Football and Business Administration – Omar Khan
  • Football Administration Coordinator – Samir Suleiman
  • Player Personnel Coordinator – Dan Rooney, Jr.
  • College Scouting Coordinator – Phil Kreidler
  • Pro Personnel Coordinator – Brandon Hunt
Head Coaches
Offensive Coaches
  
Defensive Coaches
Special Teams Coaches
Strength and Conditioning
  • Strength and Conditioning – Garrett Giemont
  • Conditioning Assistant – Marcel Pastoor

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→ Management
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AFC East
BUF
MIA
NE
NYJ
North
BAL
CIN
CLE
PIT
South
HOU
IND
JAX
TEN
West
DEN
KC
OAK
SD
NFC East
DAL
NYG
PHI
WAS
North
CHI
DET
GB
MIN
South
ATL
CAR
NO
TB
West
ARI
STL
SF
SEA

Current roster

colspan="10" style="background-color: black; color: white; border:2px solid #FFB612;" text-align: center;" |
Pittsburgh Steelers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • Currently vacant

Unrestricted FAs

Rookies in italics
Roster updated April 30, 2015
Depth Chart • Transactions
71 Active, 0 Inactive, 2 FAs

→ AFC rosters → NFC rosters

AFC East
BUF
MIA
NE
NYJ
North
BAL
CIN
CLE
PIT
South
HOU
IND
JAX
TEN
West
DEN
KC
OAK
SD
NFC East
DAL
NYG
PHI
WAS
North
CHI
DET
GB
MIN
South
ATL
CAR
NO
TB
West
ARI
STL
SF
SEA

Schedule

Training camp

The Steelers will hold training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It will mark the 50th straight year that training camp as been held at the college nestled in the Laurel Highlands, the third-longest active streak in the NFL behind the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, who have held their respective training camps at the same sites since 1958 and 1961, respectively.

For the second straight season, the Steelers will hold a joint scrimmage with the Buffalo Bills, and will break camp from Latrobe earlier than normal in order to have joint practices with the Bills at their training camp site, St. John Fisher College in the Rochester, New York suburb of Pittsford.[7]

Preseason

On February 11, 2015, the NFL announced that the Steelers will play the Minnesota Vikings in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. The game will occur on Sunday, August 9, in Canton, Ohio, and will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT on NBC.[8]

The remainder of the Steelers' preliminary preseason schedule was announced on April 9.

Week Date Kickoff (ET) Opponent Result Record Game site TV NFL.com
recap
HOF August 9 8:00 p.m. vs. Minnesota Vikings Fawcett Stadium (Canton, Ohio) NBC
1 August 14 7:30 p.m. at Jacksonville Jaguars EverBank Field KDKA
2 August 23 8:00 p.m. Green Bay Packers Heinz Field KDKA
3 August 29 4:00 p.m. at Buffalo Bills Ralph Wilson Stadium KDKA
4 September 3 7:30 p.m. Carolina Panthers Heinz Field KDKA

Regular season

Due to the modified scheduling changes that were made for the 2010 season, 2015 will mark several firsts for the Steelers. 2015 will mark the first time the Steelers have hosted the Arizona Cardinals since 2003 (having played them at University of Phoenix Stadium twice in that span, as well as Super Bowl XLIII), the first time hosting the Denver Broncos since 2006 (having played them five times since then, all at Sports Authority Field at Mile High), the first time playing the San Diego Chargers on the road since 2006 (having played them four times since, all at home) and the first time visiting the Seattle Seahawks since 2003, having played them away from Seattle three times since, twice at home as well as Super Bowl XL.[9]

Week Date Kickoff (ET) Opponent Result Record Game site TV NFL.com
recap
1 September 10 8:30 p.m. at New England Patriots Gillette Stadium NBC
2 September 20 1:00 p.m. San Francisco 49ers Heinz Field Fox
3 September 27 1:00 p.m. at St. Louis Rams Edward Jones Dome CBS
4 October 1 8:25 p.m. Baltimore Ravens Heinz Field CBS/NFLN
5 October 12 8:30 p.m. at San Diego Chargers Qualcomm Stadium ESPN
6 October 18 1:00 p.m. Arizona Cardinals Heinz Field Fox
7 October 25 1:00 p.m. at Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium CBS
8 November 1 1:00 p.m. Cincinnati Bengals Heinz Field CBS
9 November 8 1:00 p.m. Oakland Raiders Heinz Field CBS
10 November 15 1:00 p.m. Cleveland Browns Heinz Field CBS
11 Bye
12 November 29 4:25 p.m. at Seattle Seahawks CenturyLink Field CBS
13 December 6 8:30 p.m. Indianapolis Colts Heinz Field NBC
14 December 13 1:00 p.m. at Cincinnati Bengals Paul Brown Stadium CBS
15 December 20 4:25 p.m. Denver Broncos Heinz Field CBS
16 December 27 8:30 p.m. at Baltimore Ravens M&T Bank Stadium NBC
17 January 3 1:00 p.m. at Cleveland Browns FirstEnergy Stadium CBS
Notes

Transactions

The Steelers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015 season:

Free agents

Player Acquired from Lost to Date Contract terms
Brice McCain Miami Dolphins March 11, 2015 2 year/$5.5 million
DeAngelo Williams Carolina Panthers March 13, 2015 2 year/$4 million

Waivers

Player Claimed from Lost to Date

Signings

Player Date Contract terms
Rob Blanchflower January 5, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Kevin Fogg January 5, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
C.J. Goodwin January 5, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Ethan Hemer January 5, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Howard Jones January 5, 2015 1 year/$1.1 million (Reserve/Future)
Joe Kruger January 5, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Alejandro Villanueva January 5, 2015 2 year/$960,000 (Reserve/Future)
Jordan Dangerfield January 8, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Future/Reserve)
L'Damian Washington January 8, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Future/Reserve)
Brelan Chancellor January 9, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Future/Reserve)
Matthew Conrath January 9, 2015 1 year/$585,000 (Reserve/Future)
Alden Darby January 9, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Michael Egnew January 9, 2015 1 year/$585,000 (Reserve/Future)
Roosevelt Nix January 9, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Terence Garvin January 9, 2015 1-year extension/$585,000
Chris Hubbard January 12, 2015 1-year extension/$510,000
Isaiah Lewis January 14, 2015 1 year/$435,000
Mitchell Van Dyk January 15, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Shawn Lemon January 19, 2015 3 year/$3.582 million (Reserve/Future)
Brad Wing January 23, 2015 1-year extension/$510,000
Richie Leone January 27, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Ian Wild January 31, 2015 1 year/$435,000 (Reserve/Future)
Greg Warren February 4, 2015 1-year extension/$1.05 million
Tajh Boyd March 6, 2015 1 year/$435,000
Arthur Moats March 9, 2015 3-year extension/$7.5 million
Matt Spaeth March 9, 2015 2-year extension/$2.2 million
Ben Roethlisberger March 13, 2015 5-year extension/$99 million
James Harrison March 22, 2015 2 years/$2.75 million
Darrius Heyward-Bey March 26, 2015 1 year/$825,000
Clifton Geathers April 1, 2015 1 year/$825,000
Shayon Green April 2, 2015 3 years/$1.575 million
Antwon Blake April 3, 2015 1 year/$1.542 million
Will Allen April 10, 2015 1 year/$1.05 million
Jordan Berry April 14, 2015 3 years/$1.575 million
Will Johnson April 20, 2015 1 year/$1.542 million
Robert Golden April 29, 2015 1 year/$1.542 million

Cuts

Player Date
Lance Moore March 2, 2015
Brett Keisel March 9, 2015

Other

Name Date Details
Dick LeBeau January 10, 2015 Resigned as defensive coordinator
Keith Butler January 13, 2015 Promoted to defensive coordinator
Jerry Olsavsky February 6, 2015 Promoted to inside linebackers coach
Joey Porter February 6, 2015 Promoted to outside linebackers coach
Ryan Clark February 18, 2015 Retired
Jason Worilds March 10, 2015 Retired
Troy Polamalu April 9, 2015 Retired
Ike Taylor April 14, 2015 Retired

References

  1. ↑ Wexell, Jim. "Steelers Great Troy Polamalu Retires". SteelCityInsider.net. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Stout, Steve (January 10, 2015). "LeBeau resigning as Steelers defensive coordinator". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  3. ↑ Dick LeBeau, Steelers part ways ESPN.com (01/10/2015)
  4. ↑ Dick LeBeau resigns as Defensive Coordinator Steelers.com (01/10/2015)
  5. ↑ Steelers name Keith Butler as DC ESPN.com (01/13/2015)
  6. ↑ A few minutes with Keith Butler Steelers.com (01/13/2015)
  7. ↑ Steelers vs. Bills, at Saint Vincent College Steelers.com (03/26/2014)
  8. ↑ Sessler, Marc (February 11, 2015). "Steelers, Vikings to square off in Hall of Fame Game". NFL.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ 2015 Steelers opponents finalized

External links