PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The Steelers announced a new receivers coach on Tuesday without ever publicly firing previous coach Ike Hilliard.
Frisman Jackson takes over an underperforming group in 2021 after a couple of years with the Carolina Panthers. Most recently Jackson was the Panthers passing game coordinator in 2021 and before that the receivers coach in 2020. The 42-year-old also was the receivers coach with the Tennessee Titans in 2017.
Carolina, with primarily Sam Darnold and Cam Newton at quarterback in 2021, was 30th in the NFL in passing yards, 31st in passing touchdowns, 32nd in quarterback rating in 2021. In 2020, Jackson coached a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in DJ Moore and Robby Anderson, one of two receiving groups to accomplish that feat that season.
Jackson has extensive wide receivers coaching experience in college working at Baylor, Temple, NC State, Northern Illinois, Akron and Western Illinois. A Chicago native, Jackson played at Western Illinois holding single-game records with 14 receptions and 286 yards. He played his first three seasons at quarterback before moving to receiver.
Undrafted, Jackson spent five seasons in the NFL, four of which with the Browns with 40 career catches for 490 yards and a touchdown.
The only regular Steelers receivers under contract for next season are Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ray-Ray McCloud and James Washington are all free agents.
Hilliard came over to the Steelers with much acclaim in 2020 after a successful run as the Washington Commanders receivers coach from 2014-19.
