After weeks of speculation, the Steelers have named Teryl Austin their new defensive coordinator.
Austin, 56, is a native of Sharon, Pa., and has served as senior defensive assistant/secondary on Mike Tomlin's staff since 2019. He replaces Keith Butler, who retired at the conclusion of the 2021 season after spending the better part of the past two decades with the Steelers.
This will be the third time Austin has been a defensive coordinator in the NFL in his career. The former Pitt star also was a coordinator from 2014 through 2017 with the Lions and in 2018 with the Bengals.
He also has been an assistant coach on three teams that have advanced to the Super Bowl. He was a secondary coach with the Seahawks from 2003 through 2006 when they lost to the Steelers in the Super Bowl in 2005. He also was secondary coach in Arizona in 2008 when the Cardinals lost to the Steelers in the Super Bowl.
Austin was secondary coach of the Ravens in 2011 when they won the Super Bowl against the 49ers.
Austin has been instrumental in the development of the Steelers' secondary the past three seasons, helping make Minkah Fitzpatrick an All-Pro at safety and stressing turnovers with the group.
"T.A., he's a great coach," said Fitzpatrick at the end of the 2021 season. "I'm not going to talk too great about him because I want him to stay in Pittsburgh. I know everybody else is trying to get at him."
Austin has interviewed for head coaching positions nearly a dozen times in the past decade and this season also interviewed for the defensive coordinator position with the Giants.
But he'll stay in Pittsburgh, where he is expected to have a greater role calling defensive plays than Butler had in recent years. Butler told 93.7 The Fan recently that he never called defensive plays as coordinator for the Steelers, though sources say that wasn't always the case and that Tomlin only called plays on "weighty downs."
Either way, team president Art Rooney II said the new coordinator could be given more leeway.
"I think that Coach Tomlin inserts himself where he needs to, and I think the role between him and his coordinators is something they have to work out the best way for plays to be called and the most effective way," Rooney said at his season-ending press conference. "That’s something that’s mostly between coach and his coordinators. As we change defensive coordinators now, there may be some changes in how Coach Tomlin handles that."
The Steelers have led the NFL in sacks in each of the past five seasons, an NFL record. Prior to the Steelers doing so, no team had ever led the league in sacks in three consecutive seasons.
They also were among the top five teams in the NFL in takeaways in 2019 and 2020 before taking a step backward in 2021 with 22.
But the rushing defense was the league's worst in 2021 as the Steelers obviously missed defensive linemen Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu, who combined to play just five quarters during the season.
Despite that, the Steelers were ninth in the NFL against the pass in 2021.
"I learned from my first time in the building all the way through this entire season every week each and every day," said seventh-round draft pick Tre Norwood, who became a key contributor in 2021. "In the meeting room, on the field. I was always learning from Coach T.A. because he's such a smart coach and just knows the game of football."
With the elevation of Austin, Grady Brown takes over sole coaching duties for the secondary, though the Steelers could hire an assistant to work with him.
The Steelers also will need to hire an outside linebackers coach since Butler handled those duties, as well.
Offensively, the Steelers need to add a head and assistant offensive line coach.
Austin was one of at least four people interviewed for the position, joining former Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Saints secondary coach Kris Richard and Cowboys secondary coach Joe Whitt.
