As the college football season looms closer, programs all across the NCAA make their final touches to their rosters and coaching staffs. On that note, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) announced the signing of a former Pittsburgh Steelers star, who became a Super Bowl legend under Mike Tomlin’s guidance.
The 2025 NCAA season is slowly, yet steadily arriving upon us. Fans all across the nation cannot wait for the opening week of college football in the fall, and one HBCU program has just learned great news about their vacant wide receivers coach job.
After a deflating 1-9 record during the past season, Central State University, a HBCU located in Wilberforce, Ohio announced a key signing to their staff, as a former Steelers legend, who helped Tomlin win his lone Super Bowl ring as a head coach, is joining the staff led by head coach Tony Carter.
Santonio Holmes, a former first-round pick and Super Bowl XLIII champion with Tomlin and the Steelers, is signing as the next wide receivers coach for the Central State Marauders, as reported by On3.
The Maradeurs football program compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) in the NCAA Division II. CSU hopes Holmes’ arrival can spark their next wave of wideouts ahead of a challenging 2025 campaign.
Holmes’ Super Bowl winning catch
Holmes, a redshirt during the Ohio State Buckeyes’ national championship run in 2002, was drafted with the 25th overall selection by the Steelers in the 2006 NFL Draft after a memorable college football career in Columbus.
He’d go on to make the game-winning, Super Bowl–clinching touchdown grab in Super Bowl XLIII with just 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Holmes hauled in a pass in the corner of the end zone while surrounded by triple coverage from the Arizona Cardinals.
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However, even more impressive was Holmes’ toe-tap, managing to get both feet inbounds and secure Tomlin’s first—and so far only—Vince Lombardi Trophy.