Steelers WR coach Darryl Drake's autopsy shows 'nothing suspicious'

The Westmoreland County Coroner’s office is awaiting the result of toxicology tests to formally rule on the cause of death of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver coach Darryl Drake who was found Sunday in his dormitory room at Saint Vincent College, Coroner Ken Bacha said Monday.

Bacha said an autopsy on Drake performed Sunday by Cyril H. Wecht and Pathology Associates “showed nothing in regards to this case is suspicious at all.”

Wecht reported the autopsy was performed by his colleague Dr. Jennifer Hammer.

“We’re not going to formally rule on the cause of death until we receive the results of the toxicology tests,” Bacha said.

Bacha and Wecht said the toxicology results will not be available for a few weeks.

Bacha’s office is deferring further comment on Drake’s death to the Steelers, who canceled training camp practices at the college Sunday and Monday.

Drake was 62. He joined the Steelers coaching staff in 2018.

A native of Louisville, Ky., he played college football at Western Kentucky. He spent one season in the Canadian Football League and participated in a pair of NFL training camps before returning to Western Kentucky to pursue a master’s degree.

He went into coaching as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky in 1983, the beginning of a career that included stops at Georgia, where he recruited and coached Steelers Hall of Fame wide receiver Hines Ward; Baylor and Texas.

Drake reached the NFL as a receivers coach in 2004 with the Chicago Bears. He moved on to the same position with the Arizona Cardinals in 2013 before joining Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s staff last year.

Drake’s pupils through the years include Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald, longtime NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall and Antonio Brown, who played for Drake in 2018 before being traded to Oakland this spring.

Drake is survived by his wife, Sheila; three daughters Shanice, Felisha and Marian, and two grandchildren.

Condolences have been flooding in to the family and team from throughout the NFL.

Tomlin described Drake was “an amazing husband, father and grandfather.” He said he was a close friend who had “a tremendous impact” on his coaching career and who “loved the game of football and every player he coached.”

Training camp practice will resume at 2:55 p.m. Tuesday, the team reported.