Buccaneers promote from within for tight ends coach

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost tight ends coach Jon Embree to the San Francisco 49ers yesterday. They could have stopped his move, but chose not to take away his opportunity for a promotion (assistant head coach) and presumably a bigger salary, per Rick Stroud.

The Bucs didn’t wait to long to find a replacement: they announced they were promoting offensive quality control coach Ben Steele to the position of tight ends coach instead.

“We’re fortunate that we have a qualified coach like Ben already on our staff and are able to fill this role from within. He earned it through the quality of his work,” Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter said. “Ben played the position at the NFL level and has spent a great deal of time with our tight ends on the practice field and in the meeting room. We know he will do an excellent job leading that group going forward.”

Steele has been with the Bucs since 2014, when they hired him as offensive quality control coach — an entry-level position in the NFL. He’s apparently done well enough to warrant a promotion.

Steele was an NFL tight end from 2001 through 2007, though he only played in games in 2004 and 2005 for the Green Bay Packers, catching four passes for 42 yards. He then spent six years coaching at the college level, culminating in a 2013 position as UC Davis’ tight ends coach before moving to the Bucs under Lovie Smith.