Mike Tomlin has added another name to his interview list for the Steelers' vacant defensive coordinator search.
Cowboys defensive passing game coordinator/secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. is the latest person with whom Tomlin will speak with regarding replacing Keith Butler as the team's defensive coordinator.
Butler retired on Saturday after seven years as the team's defensive coordinator.
Whitt is a hot name this offseason. The Ravens and Seahawks also have expressed interest in interviewing him for their vacant defensive coordinator positions. He also could be an internal candidate with the Cowboys if defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is hired for one of the many head coaching positions for which he has interviewed in the past few weeks.
Whitt joins Steelers senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Teryl Austin, Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and Saints secondary coach Kris Richard as among those Tomlin has interviewed to replace Butler, who had been with the Steelers since 2003.
Austin, who joined the Steelers in 2019, is still considered the frontrunner for the job.
Whitt, 43, has spent time with five different NFL teams, including the Cowboys. He began his career in the NFL as a coaching assistant for the Packers under current Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy, leaving in 2019 to be the secondary coach/passing game coordinator for the Browns. He held the same position in 2020 for the Falcons before rejoining McCarthy in Dallas this season.
With the retirement of Butler, Tomlin has two spots to fill on his coaching staff. Butler also handled coaching outside linebackers the past three seasons after Joey Porter was not retained.
Meanwhile, current pro scouting coordinator Brandon Hunt, a leading candidate to potentially replace GM Kevin Colbert when he retires, has interviewed for the vacant GM position with the Raiders per NFL Network's Tom Pelisserro.
