The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to retain offensive line coach Pat Meyer, who has spent the last two seasons trying to reshape the black and gold line after multiple years of struggle. And while it hasn’t been perfect, a former player may be letting everyone know it could be worse.

Derwin Gray was a seventh-round pick out of Maryland for the Steelers in 2019 but spent just two seasons with the team before being waived and claimed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He last played in the NFL in 2022 as part of the Tennessee Titans. In 2024, he played in the UFL as part of the Birmingham Stallions.

Late last year, Gray spoke about his adventure in the NFL and UFL, and opened up about his time with the Steelers. Unfortunately, it pointed a concerning light as the o-line coach that came two before Meyer.

During Gray’s two years in Pittsburgh, the offensive line coach was Shaun Sarrett. But according to Gray, there wasn’t much impactful coaching going on from him.

“I really appreciated me being with an older line such as Maurkice Pouncey,” Gray said during an interview with Strive Sports Productions. “Shoutout to Ramon Foster. I still look at Ramon Foster as one of my mentors. David DeCastro, Alejandro Villanueva, Matt Feiler. We had B.J. Finney, he was a backup. We had J.C. Hassenaur. We had guys that were there before me that did a really good job of training me to understand the maturity.

“No disrespect to Shaun Sarrett in Pittsburgh but I feel like I didn’t learn as much from him. He was an o-line coach but I feel like I really didn’t get the coaching I deserved and needed to learn. I really leanred it from my counterparts. My guys like Pouncey and Ramon Foster. Those guys really helped me come along.”

Sarrett joined the Steelers in 2018 and an assistant offensive line coach under Mike Munchak. When Munchak left for the Denver Broncos, Sarrett was promoted.

He left in 2020 and has since spent time as the assistant o-line coach for the Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Vikings, and was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an offensive line coach this offseason.

Adrian Klemm eventually replaced Sarrett after spending two seasons as his assistant coach. He left in the middle of the 2022 season for a job at Oregon.