Art Rooney II: Steelers tried to extend Mike Munchak before 2018
A conversation Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II had with Mike Munchak in December may have been a clue into his offensive line coach’s future plans.
Munchak left the Steelers last week after five seasons to accept the same job with the Denver Broncos. Munchak cited family reasons; his daughter and granddaughter live in Colorado.
Last month, Rooney said he and Munchak “lamented” working in a city different than where their grandchildren lived.
“Maybe that was a precursor of things to come because he went out and did something about it,” Rooney II said in an interview with 93.7 FM.
Munchak departed when his contract expired despite Rooney’s efforts to get him to stay in Pittsburgh. Rooney said he also tried to extend Munchak’s contract before the start of the season, so he couldn’t become a free agent.
“He preferred to do it his way,” Rooney said. “I don’t know how long he was thinking about trying to do this. Obviously, it was important to him at some point to get back to the same city as his daughter and granddaughter. … He has a right to make the decision on when he wants to pull the trigger on a contract.”
The Steelers promoted assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett to fill Munchak’s position. Sarrett was named assistant line coach after the 2017 season following six years on Mike Tomlin’s staff as an offensive assistant.
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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