As he did with the job of offensive coordinator, Mike Tomlin stayed in house to hire an offensive line coach.
Tomlin announced the elevation of assistant offensive line coach Adrian Klemm on Tuesday to fill the position made available when Shaun Sarrett was not retained at the end of the 2020 season.
Klemm, 43, has been with the Steelers the past two seasons.
Klemm was a second-round draft pick of the Patriots in 2000 out of Hawaii. He was a member of three Super Bowl teams with New England before joining the Packers in 2005.
Klemm began his coaching career in 2008 as a graduate assistant at SMU. He became the school's offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator in 2009 and held that position in 2011. Klemm went to UCLA in 2012, staying with that program through 2016. He was elevated to associate head coach in 2014.
He left UCLA after the 2016 season following lawsuits brought against then-head coach Jim Mora Jr. and Klemm by three former players for "mishandling injuries."
Klemm joined the Steelers in 2019 when Sarrett was elevated to offensive line coach following the departure of Mike Munchak for the Broncos.
As assistant offensive line coach with the Steelers, Klemm worked most closely with team's young offensive linemen, including fourth-round pick Kevin Dotson in 2020.
The assistant OL coach often works closely with the rookies thru out the week while the OL coach gets the starters ready for the game. Dotson’s performance this year w/o training camp should give you confidence in Coach Klemm’s potential. #SteelerNation
— Trai Essex (@TraiDay79) February 1, 2021
The Steelers also had interviewed former Packers, Browns and Chargers offensive line coach James Campen and current Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley before settling on Klemm.
His hiring will leave three positions still open on Tomlin's coaching staff -- quarterbacks coach, assistant offensive line coach and defensive backs coach.
