How Steelers great Ryan Shazier recovered from injury to become a coach

Ryan Shazier suffered a career-ending and life-altering spinal cord injury seven years ago .

He is now coaching the Steelers ' running backs in his first season as offensive assistant.

He suffered a severe spinal injury in a head- first collision with a Bengals wide receiver during " Monday Night Football " on Dec. 4, 2017 .

"He's learning the separation between player and coach," running backs coach Eddie Faulkner says.

Ryan Shazier has a season-long role on the Steelers ' coaching staff working with the running backs.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin added former linebacker Vince Williams to a similar role on defense.

Having a former linebacker work with the team's running backs is almost like giving them an answer key to their weekly test.

"It was just surreal seeing him in person, and then of course what he's been through," running back Jonathan Faulkner said.

Shazier is in the infancy of his coaching career, but aspires to be a head coach down the road.

The quality control analyst has behind-the-scenes responsibilities at the NFL .