Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II confirmed that defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is set to return for the 2024 season and beyond, noting that he is happy to have him back. Austin led the Steelers to the sixth-ranked scoring defense in the NFL during the 2023 season.
“Teryl [Austin] will be back”, Rooney confirmed via the team’s website in an interview with Rob King. “I think we had a pretty solid year on defense, all things considered. Had some injuries to overcome, which wasn’t easy at times. I think Teryl has done a good job, and [I’m] happy that he’s gonna be back for the next couple years at least.”
Austin first joined the Steelers’ coaching staff in 2019 as a senior defensive assistant, working with the defensive backs. He succeeded Keith Butler as defensive coordinator in 2022 after the latter retired. Pittsburgh has had a top-10 scoring defense in each of his first two seasons on the job.
While Rooney is happy to have Austin back, many fans do not share that sentiment. The Steelers did rank 21st in the league in yards allowed. They gave up 6.2 yards per pass attempt and 4.3 yards per rush. Five different teams rushed for over 150 yards against them.
That doesn’t tell the full story, however. One of the reasons Rooney is happy to have Austin back with the Steelers is because he handled injuries well. They basically were never healthy all season. Cameron Heyward tore his groin off the bone in the opener on a pre-existing injury. That was just the beginning.
By the time Heyward got back, Minkah Fitzpatrick had gotten hurt.
The attrition at inside linebacker proved to be the most serious. Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander both went down with season-ending injuries in consecutive weeks. Elandon Roberts nursed injuries but played through them for most of the second half of the year. The fact that players like Mykal Walker and Myles Jack started games should tell you the position they were in.
Not only that, they got starts at safety from Trenton Thompson, Eric Rowe, and even CB Patrick Peterson. The latter two started the final three games of the season. Peterson might be a future Hall of Famer, but he had never played safety seriously before.
Stability is another thing that makes Rooney and the Steelers happy, which retaining Austin manages to accomplish. His contract had expired, but he is reportedly returning on a new two-year contract. And Rooney said that he will be back “at least” for the next two years, indicating he may wish to keep him even longer.
The defense could certainly use more fresh blood. They found two new starters in the 2023 NFL Draft in CB Joey Porter Jr. and DL Keeanu Benton. They could still use another cornerback and another defensive lineman. A blue-chip inside linebacker wouldn’t hurt, either. Nor would a more stable strong safety.
