When Keith Butler retired from his position as the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator two weeks ago, Teryl Austin was considered the favorite to take over the role. Now that’s coming to fruition as Austin is finalizing a deal to become the Steelers’ defensive coordinator, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Austin, 56, is not new to the job. He previously spent four seasons as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator and one year in the same role with the Cincinnati Bengals. Austin joined the Steelers staff as a secondary coach in 2019.
Despite his success in nearly two decades as a defensive coach in the NFL, Austin has yet to receive a head-coaching job. He has been interviewed by several teams for head-coaching vacancies and has been frustrated by the lack of “legitimate” consideration from teams. When he was interviewed by four teams after the 2016 season, he told ESPN that only two felt like interviews that were real.
“(Former Lions general manager) Bob Quinn knew he was hiring Matt Patricia and used Teryl to comply with the Rooney Rule,” Austin’s agent Eric Metz told The Associated Press (h/t the Detroit Free Press) earlier this week. “Didn’t work out well for the Lions. Never should’ve fired Jim Caldwell.”
The Steelers finished the 2021 season with the 20th-ranked defense in points allowed and 24th in yards allowed.
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