Aaron Rodgers is a big fan of someone who is in line to join the Pittsburgh Steelers’ new coaching staff. Andy Weidl won’t be moving on to Atlanta. Mike Sullivan makes a return to PPG Paints Arena, as Archie Miller makes a return to Pittsburgh.

And it’s a huge weekend for college hockey at both Penn State and Robert Morris.

All that in Friday’s “First Call.”

Hearty endorsement

Much has been made about all the potential Green Bay and Dallas connections on Mike McCarthy’s first coaching staff in Pittsburgh. The thinking is that some of the familiarity may coax Aaron Rodgers back to play again with the Steelers in 2025.

If so, one coach appears to be a favorite of Rodgers. It’s James Campen. He’s reportedly being named the offensive line coach of the team.

Adam Schefter of ESPN found this Instagram post from Aaron Rodgers heaping praise on Campen back in 2021.

Campen is a former Green Bay player and was on McCarthy’s staff coaching offensive linemen from 2006-18.

Sticking around

Steelers assistant general manager Andy Weidl won’t be leaving for Atlanta.

The Falcons recently interviewed him for their open general manager position. But according to Schefter, that job is going to Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunnigham.

Cunningham has been with Chicago since 2022. He’ll take over for Terry Fontenot. He was let go after an 8-9 season in Atlanta.

The Falcons also changed their head coach. Ex-Browns coach Kevin Stefanski replaced Raheem Morris.

Welcome back

After bombing the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2, on Thursday night, the red-hot Penguins are winners of five in a row.

The Pens exploded for four second-period goals, one of them from Egor Chinakhov off a spinning pass from Evgeni Malkin.

With 65 points, the Penguins are tied for second place in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Islanders. On Thursday night, the Isles beat Pittsburgh’s next opponent, the New York Rangers, 2-1, at Madison Square Garden.

Rookie Matthew Schaefer tallied his 14th goal of the year for the Islanders.

Rangers forward Artemi Panarin didn’t play for a second straight game. According to Emily Kaplan of ESPN, the Rangers are expected to shelve Panarin until the Olympic roster freeze. She reports, “It’s likely the winger has played his final game with the organization as it works to facilitate a trade.”

The Rangers only have 50 points. That’s the lowest total in the Eastern Conference. Since Christmas, they have played 16 games and won only three of them. Three of those defeats were at the hands of the Islanders.

Their faceoff against the Penguins is at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. The organization is honoring the 10th anniversary of the 2016 Stanley Cup-winning team that afternoon.

The head coach of that club, Mike Sullivan, will be on the bench for the Rangers. He is 22-27-6 in his first year in New York.

 

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Bundle up

The Robert Morris women’s hockey team (10-16-2) is heading to State College this afternoon to play an outdoor game against fourth-ranked Penn State (24-4).

The game is being played at 1 p.m. in Beaver Stadium. Admission is free.

The forecast at faceoff is cloudy, 13 degrees with 10 mph winds, and a ”real feel” of 1. The teams rematch at 6 p.m. Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena.

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As for the fifth-rated men’s team (18-6), they’ll host second-ranked Michigan State (19-5) at 6 p.m. Friday night inside, and then play the Spartans outdoors at 1 p.m.

The men’s team at RMU (7-15-2, 7-8-1 Atlantic Hockey) has a big weekend as well. They host Atlantic Hockey leading Bentley (13-7-4, 11-2-3 AHA) at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday on Neville Island.

The Falcons arrive at the RMU Island Sports Center with 38 points to lead the conference. The Colonials are in sixth place with 25 points. Derek Schooley’s club is on a three-game win streak. They’ve gathered 10 of a possible 12 points over their past four contests.

Familiar face

Former Blackhawk High School star Archie Miller leads his Rhode Island Rams into the UPMC Cooper Field House on Saturday against Duquesne. It’s a noon start on the Bluff.

The Dukes are 10-11, 3-5 in Atlantic 10 play. They just lost an 87-79 decision to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night.

Miller’s Rams come in at 13-8, 4-4 in the A-10. They have won three in a row over Richmond, George Mason and Dayton.

Miller took over the Rhody program prior to the 2022-23 season. The Dukes are 3-2 against Miller since he arrived at URI.

They were 3-8 against his Dayton teams while Miller was coaching the Flyers from 2011-17.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer discuss the Penguins’ hot stretch during this week’s hockey podcast