Steelers Fired Assistant Coach Derius Swinton II For 'Workplace Misconduct'
There was a little bit of drama out of the Pittsburgh Steelers OTAs this week as the team fired senior special teams assistant Derius Swinton II.
On Friday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Swinton was fired for an unspecified violation of team policy.
"Pittsburgh Steelers and Sr. special teams coach Derrius Swinton have parted ways due to violation of club policy, per league sources," Schefter wrote.
Later that day, ESPN's Brooke Pryor reported that the dismissal was due to "workplace misconduct." However Swinton has not returned requests for comment as of writing.
"Though the Steelers declined to provide the exact violation, Swinton, who was hired as part of new coach Mike McCarthy's staff earlier this year, was dismissed due to workplace misconduct, a team source told ESPN," Pryor wrote.
"Swinton did not return a request for comment."
Decades of Experience
Swinton played safety at Hampton University from 2003 to 2006 before going into coaching. He started as a graduate assistant at Tennessee from 2007 to 2008 before getting his first NFL job with the St. Louis Rams as a special teams quality control coach.
Since then, Swinton has bounced around the league, mostly coaching special teams. He most recently spent three seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, serving as their assistant special teams coach and interim special teams coordinator.
When the Steelers hired Mike McCarthy as their new head coach in January, Swinton was hired as a senior assistant to new special teams coordinator Danny Crossman.
Fans had all kinds of speculation as to what Swinton might have done that constitutes "workplace misconduct." Some suspected that it might be something inappropriate or downright illegal in nature, while others joked that it might have been something totally benign.
The good news for the Steelers is that Swinton isn't exactly irreplaceable.
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This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 2:12 PM.