Bruce gradkowski, a former pittsburgh steelers quarterback, will join the st. louis battlehawks as an offensive coordinator in the united football league on wednesday, according to the team. Gradkowski joined toledo last year as an offensive analyst after graduating from the high school class. He now has a chance to make some serious noise in the ufl, demonstrating what he can do. Gradkowski, 38, was a three-year starter at the university of toledo, where he threw for 9,225 yards and 85 touchdowns. His 68.2% completion rate is the highest in mac history. Gradkowski led the rockets to a mac championship in 2004 and was inducted into the toledo hall of fame in 2012.
Gradkowski was drafted to the tampa bay buccaneers in 2006 and then joined the cleveland browns, oakland raiders, and cincinnati bengals before joining the steelers in 2013. In the 2014-15 playoffs against the baltimore ravens, steelers quarterback ben roethlisberger made his only passing appearances with him. Gradkowski finished his nfl career with 4,057 yards and 21 touchdowns in 37 games. Gradkowski is a pittsburgh native who attended seton-la salle university. He was one of the best backups for teams to turn to throughout his entire career, spanning a decade in the nfl.
Gradkowski was not the only former steelers player to land a coaching job in the ufl. In 2024, carnell lake will return to the ufl as defensive coordinator for the memphis showboats. Lake was the defensive coordinator for the showboats in 2023 under former steelers offensive coordinator todd haley, who was the team’s head coach. The showboats went 5-5 and finished in last place in the usfl south division. Lake, 56, played for the tampa bay bandits for one season before joining the showboats as a defensive coordinator. From 2011-17, he was the steelers defensive backs coach. He stepped down to spend more time with his family, including his son quentin, who attended ucla from 2017-21 before being selected by the los angeles rams in the 2022 nfl draft.
