We know the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new offensive coordinator. But will there be a change on the other side of the ball? For defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, all signs point to no. While Mike Tomlin expects coaching changes beyond just filling the team’s vacant OC spot, it doesn’t sound like Austin is a guy whose job is on the line. That was furthered by the PPG’s Gerry Dulac, indicating Austin would return on a new deal.
Some have offered a different view. Suggesting Pittsburgh should fire Austin and find someone else to lead the defense, at least in title, given the strong influence Tomlin has on that side of the football.
While there have been calls to fire Austin, there hasn’t been a suitable explanation as to why. I’m all for hearing out the case. Maybe there’s an element of his game, his strategy, his scheme, that is harming the defense to the point where he needs to leave. So far, I can’t find it.
For all the junk Pittsburgh dealt with this season, the Steelers’ defense hung in there. They lost their top two inside linebackers, Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander in consecutive weeks. Elandon Roberts played hurt the final month. It’s a shock he even suited up at all. They pulled Mykal Walker off the street and Myles Jack off the couch and did their best to make it work.
Safety was just as problematic. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Keanu Neal, and Trenton Thompsons were all injured in a span of weeks. Heck, Damontae Kazee was ejected one play, and Fitzpatrick injured the next against the Indianapolis Colts. Literally running out of able and available bodies, they shifted Patrick Peterson from corner to a full-time safety role and plucked Eric Rowe off the free-agent pile. Peterson handled the switch, and Rowe legitimately played well in a downhill/box role.
For a team decimated down the middle, it had a domino effect everywhere. Not just in personnel, like NCB Chandon Sullivan playing a much larger role while S Miles Killebrew logged dime snaps. But in structure, too. Communication was strained, and the playbook had to be simplified to basic forms, allowing new faces and younger players to pick things up.
Injuries can’t be used as a crutch. Literally, they can, but not for job security. But Pittsburgh’s defense still held up despite the wave of ailments. They bent but never broke, and the overall output for the circumstances exceeded expectations.
The Steelers finished the year sixth in scoring defense, allowing a hair over 19 points per game, their best showing in rank and figure since 2020. They tied for eighth in takeaways with 27 and fourth with 16 interceptions. Pittsburgh’s red zone defense was key in keeping the score down, fifth-best in the NFL at 46 percent. And they didn’t just hold opponents to field goals. This is a defense who took the ball away, their eight turnovers in the red zone easily the most in football. Only one other team had more than five, the Arizona Cardinals with six. It’s the most by any defense, Steelers or otherwise, since the 2016 Kansas City Chiefs, who finished with ten.
Pittsburgh called game on the goal line to seal wins against the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers while using game-changing goal-line moments to prevail over teams like the Baltimore Ravens. See CB Joey Porter Jr.’s jump ball interception in what was a massive moment.
So what’s the glaring issue with Austin? It can be tough knowing how much credit to give him given Tomlin’s influence, but the Steelers’ takeaway parties were silent for years until Austin was hired in 2019 (trading for FS Minkah Fitzpatrick that year helped, I know). Are there areas he and the defense could’ve done better? Sure. They had poor answers against tight ends, they didn’t play NT Keeanu Benton enough, there were problems. But nothing that reached the level of a fireable offense to relieve Austin of his duties. Austin is a solid coach. He should return in 2024. And it appears he will.
