1-on-1: Danny Crossman - March 9, 2026

Special Team Coordinator Danny Crossman talks about joining the Steelers coaching staff and more

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
What what's it like to be back in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
It is fabulous. It's been a long time, only occasional
visits for games and scattering visits, but it is great
to be back in this fabulous city. I missed it.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Your relationship or connection to coach McCarthy's a little bit different.
You were the player at pitt he was a GA.
What was that like and how often have you guys
kept in touch?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
You know, we had small interactions, but it was an
amazing staff when you look at the graduate assistants that
were there when I was there, you know, with Mike
and John Harbaugh, a couple of super successful head coaches
in National Football League along with the full time coaches.
But you know, fortunately, you know, we played against them
twice a year when I was in Carolina and he

(00:51):
was with the Saints, and then when I was with
the Lions and he was with the Packers. We see
each other twice a year. I'm not a big phone guy,
so we would have those interactions. We see each other
at the Combine and the Senior Bowl. But always been
very very you know, excited about what Mike's done and
how successful he's been everywhere He's been, so it was

(01:12):
an honor to get to finally get together on the
same staff.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
So what was it like when he called you?

Speaker 2 (01:17):
It was exciting, you know, it was you know, this
time of year, there's always questions and what are you
looking for? You know, I've been in it long enough
where I know there were certain things that I was
hoping for. I was hoping to get with an established
head coach, a guy that had a history and making
those hard decisions, a defensive coordinator, and Patrick Graham who
I had worked with before. So when you look at

(01:39):
the alignment of the structure, it fell perfectly into some
of the things that I was looking for. And then
you know the bonus obviously being in the city of
Pittsburgh and more importantly with one of the iconic franchises
in the National Football League and really sports in general.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Other than coach McCarthy, you kind of the guy they're like, hey,
where should we go to eat? What part of the
you know, town should we live in? Type of thing.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Not really, because Darian, it's been a long time since
I've been here, so everybody sort of we know we're
so I don't say far behind, but you know, as
you come in as an entirely new staff with you know,
evaluating your own players, you know, evaluating the free agency,
evaluating the draft, and putting your packages and schemes together.
There's really not a lot of time to be bsing

(02:22):
about anything. Everybody's just you know, hold on and getting
everything done as quick as they can.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
In terms of Danny Smith, I'm sure you knew Danny
rather well as everybody feels like in the special teams
world has we know him as the loving guy.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
He was also really.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Loud, shoot a lot of gum. What's your takeaway of
just you know, knowing Danny a little bit?

Speaker 2 (02:43):
The bazooka budget's gonna go way down. They're not gonna
be wait to leave you any I don't need any
that's that's that's not my bag. That's Danny's thing. That
was his shticks and he can have it so you can.
Mo went on to Tampa. Danny. You know, I have
standing coach and a great guy. You know, I've I've followed,
you know, when I took over in Carolina, took over
a guy named Scott O'Brien, who, you know, in my opinion,
probably the best special teams coaches ever. Coached in the league.

(03:05):
When I took over, Miami had taken over for a
guy that had been there for a long stretch. So
following a guy that's you know, had a niche and
been very successful in a place that he's been, it's
nothing new. I'm excited to carry on with you know,
the positives and the good things that they've done here
in the kicking game.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
How would you describe your coaching style when it comes
to special teams.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
You know, my style is whatever the player needs. You know,
we're going to be sound, We're going to work on
fundamentals techniques. I want to be as aggressive as we can.
You know that comes from from top down. But we're
going to try and put stress on the opposition and
most importantly, get players to enjoy playing. And we're looking
to have fun.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Your roster obviously Chris Boswell, Christian Kuon's Corlis Weightman, Ben's Gronik,
a pro bowler last year. What do you make of
those guys that are kind of the core.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, there's a lot of talent, and if you're going
to be good in this league, you need to have
a good court group, you need to have good specialists,
and it starts with those guys, and then you need
to have position guys that fill that role and accept
that role and then most importantly, excel in the role
that they're given. Sometimes that role changes. Guys go from
you know, part time special teams player and a lot

(04:16):
more offensive defense, and then it goes the other way.
You guys that are full time special teams guys and
develop into you know, top end defensive and offensive players.
So whatever your role is defined as as once we
get this team together, as long as guys work to
excel in that role you know, offensive DEFENSI vegu kicking game.
Alls we're trying to do is win the game. So however,

(04:36):
however it has to work, and however it has to look.
We don't care. Nobody asks you how you won. They
just ask you how many did you win? So that's
all we care about, all right, perfect, Thank you, coach,
Thank you