Yesterday, we evaluated each core member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coaching staff and shared my thoughts on their performance and future. Today, we’ll do the same for the defense focusing on coordinator and each of the main position coaches.
Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin
Austin’s name has come under fire this year as a potential coach to be replaced. That remains to be seen, though he’s reportedly under contract and the Steelers generally don’t fire mid-deal choosing to let these pacts expire and not renew them instead.
Contrary to popular belief, Austin has done positive things here. Or at least been part of them. Judging his role and input on the defense is even tougher knowing the power Mike Tomlin has over it. Tomlin certainly is the lead-man, though I still can’t figure out who exactly calls the defense. I never see Tomlin with a playsheet and Austin has just a small notecard that feels too tiny for even a relatively simplistic Steelers’ scheme.
Since being brought on in 2019, first as an assistant before becoming defensive coordinator in 2022, the Steelers’ defense has enjoyed success. Since, no unit has had more takeaways or more sacks than Pittsburgh. Austin should be attributed for some of that, especially the takeaways. He helped instill an improved turnover culture that focused on daily circuit drills emphasizing takeaways. Personnel and talent, like trading for FS Minkah Fitzpatrick, certainly helps, but Austin played a role here, too.
Focusing on this year, the Steelers’ defense got off to a hot start before, like everything else, fading at the finish line. Pittsburgh’s defense has become more multiple over the years to combat the specific strengths and weaknesses of teams, and that’s reflected in our weekly charting that is much more than the old “base, nickel, dime” it used to be years ago. In that sense, Austin and the defense provides lots of answers rather than one-blanket solutions. For example, the team uses a “big nickel” three-safety package against teams with multiple talented pass-catchers at tight end like the Baltimore Ravens. But there are tons of little wrinkles in personnel and alignment to try to stay a step ahead. Even in losses like the Steelers’ defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles, it didn’t feel like scheme was the issue. Personnel and execution were.
Trying to dial in the exact schematic issues are harder to do defensively than offensively. The results were poor and Austin certainly shares in that blame. The coverage busts were multiple and took too long to be cleaned up as Pittsburgh struggled with basic concepts like handling motion and distributing routes. The defense got a better handle on those problems late in the year, but even in the playoff game, they still weren’t perfect.
The Steelers’ defense has largely been on the simple side throughout the year. Plays fast and physical and let talent win out. They showed the ability to add coverage wrinkles against high-end quarterbacks, and they had creative ways to disguise coverages with different rotations and trying to “lie” against empty, often playing zone despite the linebacker walking out on the back in what’s typically a man-indicator. Look enough and you’ll see some inventive things.
Austin and the Steelers spent the first half of the season doing their best not to blitz and trusting their front four to get home. They only began to adjust when facing more mobile quarterbacks and when the rush became less effective. They used more mug and sim pressure but felt late to the party compared to other teams. Sack production was down, and the Steelers lacked quality blitz concepts to manufacture pressure. They got little from the secondary and frustratingly kept sending Cam Sutton despite ineffective pressure. Austin and Pittsburgh also had few answers for when defenses took away T.J. Watt. Despite professing a desire to move him around, it rarely occurred as Watt seemed comfortable staying on his LOLB side.
Pittsburgh had other options. They could’ve sent more people to create 1v1 matchups or better utilized stunts and games to free him up. Austin and the Steelers seemed to let Watt be taken away and held without a sack over his final four games.
I’m creating a more positive report than most would offer from Austin. He certainly isn’t a high-level defensive coordinator, and again, parsing out his impact on this defense versus Tomlin is tricky. But I don’t view his failings as unquestionably worth firing him, nor am I convinced hiring another mid-tier DC (with Tomlin having influence, the Steelers won’t land a top name) making dramatic changes in the team’s outlook.
DL Coach Karl Dunbar
Dunbar is one of the Steelers’ longest-tenured coaches and filled big shoes left by John Mitchell. Overall, Dunbar has done well to develop the Steelers’ top draft picks and he has a strong reputation around the league. A long-term d-line coach, that’s shown by virtue of him running Combine drills nearly every year in Indy.
Dunbar is less drill sergeant than Mitchell was but regarded as a good teacher with a wealth of knowledge. He’s also worked plenty with the Steelers OLBs, unofficially wearing both hats for most of his time in Pittsburgh. Overall, that group has done well, too.
But the Steelers’ run defense sprung leaks late in the season and was a mess against Baltimore. Is that an issue of overall game plan less in Dunbar’s control? Maybe. Cam Heyward noted Pittsburgh was trying a bunch of things that didn’t work, a problem that falls at the feet of Tomlin and Austin first.
But DL Keeanu Benton didn’t take the leap I hoped for and his game still isn’t refined. DL Isaiahh Loudermilk raised his floor but not his ceiling while veteran Dean Lowry ended up being an afterthought by season’s end (though I don’t blame Dunbar much for that). Larry Ogunjboi hasn’t given the Steelers what they hoped for out of his extension.
As a unit, the pass rush production wasn’t strong enough. Cam Heyward had a historically good year but everyone else combined for just 4.5 sacks, including just two after the bye week. That’s not good enough.
Will Dunbar be the fall guy to all of that? Maybe. It could be a case of a good coach whose time in Pittsburgh is up the team moves on from.
Outside LBs Coach Denzel Martin
Dunbar’s right-hand man for several years, Martin transitioned from scouting to coaching assistant before earning the full label of outside linebackers coach in 2024. The role wasn’t too different from what he previously had done, working with the EDGE rushers during practice.
Martin is young and full of energy, roughly 30 years old and the same age as some of the players he coaches. He’s constantly hyping guys up on the sideline and the first to celebrate a big-time play even beyond his positional group. Watch the All-22 and you’ll see him out on the field to greet K Chris Boswell after a big kick, for example.
There isn’t a ton of information to judge Martin from. You could argue the team bringing in a veteran EDGE coach and making Martin an assistant again. I could buy that. He’s aided by having a talented group to work with, though the group dealt with injuries and didn’t meet expectations this year.
Inside LB Coach Aaron Curry
Curry was hired in 2023 to replace Brian Flores. A former first-round pick who didn’t meet expectations, he transitioned into coaching and came over from Seattle. Curry got a new group to work with in Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson along with Elandon Roberts’ return.
Queen’s play was mixed while Wilson looked as-advertised with his strengths (effort, range, coverage) and weaknesses (in-the-box run defense). Roberts is a hammer but already developed long before Curry arrived.
My perception is Curry is a bright guy who has worked well with the group. He’s pretty young and relatable but brings some experience and credibility in that room. A top-round pick understands the weight of expectations and the adversity of not living up to those marks. There’s a story and background that can relate to any player brought into that room.
He’s still relatively new to Pittsburgh but he’s gotten a lot out of the group in his two years and benefitted from the Steelers’ inside linebackers being a lot healthier this year than last. I could see him becoming a future defensive coordinator.
Secondary Coach Grady Brown
Brown has seemed like a riser in league circles, though perhaps that momentum has cooled. A gem of a find by the Steelers out of the college ranks, Brown had connections with Teryl Austin that helped get him in Pittsburgh’s door. Brown was named Senior Bowl DC in 2023, often a sign of the league recognizing emerging talent.
Since then, things have seemed quiet with Brown not getting any coordinator looks despite believing that could be his future path. The Steelers’ secondary has been a takeaway-happy group and some of that remained true this year. CB Donte Jackson picked off a career-high five passes this season while their 17 defensive interceptions tied for third-most in football. Tomlin noted Brown was in charge of turnover culture and Pittsburgh’s 33 takeaways tied for the league-lead.
But Joey Porter Jr., similar to Benton, took perhaps a step but not a leap and was hampered by scores of penalties. CB Beanie Bishop made splash plays but was part of communication breakdowns that saw his snap count shrivel after Cam Sutton’s return.
Brown still seems like a solid coach. But with Porter not ascending into a top-flight corner, Brown’s lost some of the luster that surrounded him earlier in his Steelers coaching career.
