Mike McCarthy and the Pittsburgh Steelers intend to hire former Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens DL Domata Peko for their vacant defensive line coaching position, per The Athletic’s Zac Jackson on X.
Karl Dunbar was reportedly informed last week that he would not be retained on McCarthy’s staff after eight years in that role. Now, a former Bengal will be tasked with helping transition to the next era of defensive line play in Pittsburgh.
An NFL player from 2006 to 2020, Peko’s only NFL coaching job came with the Dallas Cowboys in 2024 as a defensive assistant. That was McCarthy’s final year with the Cowboys. Peko is one of many former McCarthy assistants to reunite with him in Pittsburgh. He spent the 2025 season under Deion Sanders as Colorado’s DL coach.
As a player, Peko played 15 years and racked up 616 total tackles, 47 tackles for loss, 20 sacks, 14 passes defensed, and two forced fumbles in 194 starts. The American Samoan former defensive tackle is just 41 years old.
He draws on that wealth of playing experience as a coach.
“I felt like as I got older in my career, I became like a player-coach,” he said. “And once I got to, like, year 10, people just kept looking up to me, like, ‘Hey, Peko, what I do on this? Peko, what do I do on this block?’ And I just felt like I was a player-coach from when I was playing, my last five years of playing,” Peko told The Denver Post’s Brian Howell. “I’m a competitive guy, and just to get back out to coaching and helping these young guys on their journeys, that’s what really brings me here, man. Just trying to shine my light and get these guys to be the best version of themselves. That’s what makes my day. I really enjoy coaching.”
As a defensive assistant with the Cowboys in 2024, he worked with talents such as Micah Parsons, Chauncey Golston, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Osa Odighizuwa. Pittsburgh will likely hire an outside linebackers coach, but Peko will have a hand in working with the impressive group, including T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and Jack Sawyer.
Cameron Heyward is technically under contract, but it remains to be seen if he plays another season. He will likely want a reworked contract again if so, but he’s turning 37 in May and could feasibly decide to retire after losing the only head coach he’s ever played for in Mike Tomlin. Either way, Peko will have young talents like first-round DT Derrick Harmon and fifth-round DT Yahya Black entering their second seasons.
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