Rhode Island cornerbacks coach Diamond Weaver interned with the Steelers during training camp this summer through the NFL’s Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship.

Weaver, who is entering his third season as a member of Jim Fleming’s staff at Rhode Island, was in camp with the Steelers in July and August as an assistant defensive backs coach, working closely with Carnell Lake, the team’s defensive backs coach. Now in his fifth season as a coach, Lake played 12 seasons in the NFL and was a five-time Pro Bowl selection.

It’s an opportunity that Weaver put old-fashioned work into creating. He hand-wrote letters to all 32 teams, and had letters of recommendation from Fleming as well as University of Rhode Island Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn. Weaver cold-called each organization to express his interest in the fellowship program.

“I knew going in I was going to have to be persistent,” Weaver says. “I got some good feedback and responses from several teams, and that only motivated me more.”

The approach paid off when Weaver received a phone call on a Tuesday late in April from Pittsburgh Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Line Coach John Mitchell. Mitchell asked Weaver to tell him a little about himself. Mitchell then asked what Weaver knew about Mitchell.

“I was honest, and I said I didn’t know much,” Weaver said. “So Coach Mitchell told me we would talk again that Friday, and in the meantime he wanted me to research his background.”

Weaver studied up, finding that the veteran coach was the first African-American to play for Alabama, where he was named a team captain in his second season. Mitchell also was the school’s first black assistant coach, as well as the youngest coach ever hired at Alabama, when he joined the staff a year after his playing career ended. Later he became the first black defensive coordinator in the history of the Southeastern Conference. Mitchell played for and coached with the legendary Bear Bryant, and during his 43-year coaching career also coached with legends Lou Holtz, Bill Belichick and Bill Cowher.

On Thursday of that week—a day earlier than expected—Mitchell called Weaver back.

“I told him it was an honor just to have the opportunity to speak with him,” Weaver said. “And actually spending time with someone of his character and experience is a special opportunity.”

It’s also an unusual one. While every team can invite up to seven interns through the program—last year there were a record 134 participants, including the first female, Jen Welter—most teams don’t bring in young candidates. Weaver is the first coach under the age of 30 to go through the program with the Steelers.

Weaver also will be working with Mike Tomlin, one of three current head coaches in the NFL who are graduates of the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship. Tomlin was the defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati when he participated in the fellowship program with the Cleveland Browns in 2000.

“He is the face of this internship,” Weaver said. “As an African-Americanin this profession, Mike Tomlin is the trailblazer you want to follow. He is the exact example of what I want to become, and I could not be more excited to have the opportunity to learn from him.

“As a player, I wanted that opportunity to play in the NFL, but those doors didn’t open for me,” Weaver adds. “Now this opportunity as a coach. I am fortunate and blessed to have had the chance to represent the University of Rhode Island and put my best foot forward.”

Established in 1987, the program is named for the late Bill Walsh, the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach who conceived the idea. During the 2015 season, there were 61 graduates of the program serving as full-time coaches on NFL staffs in 2015.