Tag: teryl austin

AFC North watch: Steelers expected to hire Teryl Austin as new defensive coordinator

A former candidate for the Browns head coaching job gets a promotion to run the Steelers defense, reportedly:

The Cleveland Browns will have new defensive coordinators to deal with against both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens filled their position by bringing back a former coach with John Harbaugh stealing back from his brother Jim Harbaugh.

When long-time Steelers coach Keith Butler retired, some wondered if Pittsburgh would hire Wink Martindale, the defensive coordinator that Baltimore fired.

Pittsburgh tried to interview New York Giants DC Patrick Graham before he took the same job with the Las Vegas Raiders. With Graham off the market, the Steelers are reportedly turning to one of their own to take over the defense with Teryl Austin getting the nod, reportedly:

Austin has bounced around the league and college since entering coaching at his alma mater Penn State in 1991. He has interviewed for a number of head coaching positions including with the Cleveland Browns at one point.

Pittsburgh added Austin to their defensive staff before the 2019 season where he has held multiple roles for Mike Tomlin. Familiar with the team’s players, Austin should help a smooth transition for the Steelers defense.

The latest on Giants’ search for a new defensive coordinator

The latest on the Giants’ search for a new defensive coordinator.

The New York Giants were left at the altar by defensive coordinator Patrick Graham on Friday when he jumped ship to assume the same role with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Graham has a relationship with both newly hired head coaches — Josh McDaniels of the Raiders and Brian Daboll of the Giants — from their days in New England as part of Bill Belichick’s staff.

Graham was serving as the assistant head coach here with the Giants under Joe Judge as well as the DC but may not have been offered that title here under Daboll. It is unclear yet if the Raiders have given Graham that title.

The Giants were busy trying to replace Graham with a flurry of interviews on Saturday with some established coordinators around the NFL.

Schwartz has been a defensive coordinator or head coach for various clubs since 2001.

He was the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator from 2001-08, and the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator from 2016-20, where he earned a Super Bowl ring.

Schwartz has also been the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills (2014), and served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2009-13.

Martindale has been coaching NFL defenses since 2004 and has served as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens for the past four seasons. He also has a Super Bowl ring to his credit.

Austin also has a long, distinguished resume that includes both college and NFL experience. Austin has been a defensive coordinator since 2014 with the Lions, Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Austin earned a Super Bowl ring as part of the Ravens’ staff in SB XLVII.

Desai has only one year of coordinator experience — last season with the Chicago Bears. He would appear to be the long shot among the group.

Henderson is currently the Giants’ defensive backs coach but has served as the defensive passing game coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and has coached defensive backs for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets going back to 2007.

[lawrence-related id=687327,687299,687041]

[listicle id=686862]

Giants request to interview Steelers’ Teryl Austin for DC vacancy

The New York Giants are seeking permission to interview Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach Teryl Austin for their defensive coordinator position.

With Patrick Graham leaving the New York Giants, new head coach Brian Daboll is looking for his next defensive coordinator.

The Giants are seeking permission to interview Pittsburgh Steelers secondary coach and senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin for the defensive coordinator vacancy, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Austin was the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator in 2016 when he interviewed for the Giants head coaching job in 2016.

Along with being the Lions defensive coordinator from 2014-2017, Austin was the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator in 2018 before joining the Steelers in 2019.

Austin is one of three known names in line for the Giants defensive coordinator job, as former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale and Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai are expected to interview this weekend.

[lawrence-related id=687007,686904,686981]

[listicle id=686862]

5 coaches Titans should target for defensive coordinator position

The Titans have some intriguing options to fill their defensive coordinator vacancy.

After the Tennessee Titans didn’t name a defensive coordinator in 2020 and went on to have a terrible season on defense, it’s time for this team to hire someone for the position.

Granted, outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen handled all of the duties of a defensive coordinator without the title, but he was a rookie play-caller and didn’t have much success in the role. As a result, it’s time for change.

As we turn to the 2021 offseason, it appears that the Titans are actively looking to fill the role after Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Thursday that the team had interviewed Pittsburgh Steelers defensive assistant and secondary coach Teryl Austin for the job.

Now that we know Tennessee is planning on filling the vacancy for this season, we thought we’d take a look at five coaches the Titans should consider for the job. In making this list, we also considered the fact that familiarity is something that is important to head coach Mike Vrabel.

Report: Titans interviewing Steelers’ secondary coach Teryl Austin for DC

The Titans are reportedly looking for a new defensive coordinator.

The Tennessee Titans are reportedly looking into hiring a defensive coordinator ahead of the 2021 season.

According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Titans will interview Pittsburgh Steelers defensive assistant and secondary coach, Terryl Austin, for their defensive coordinator position.

Austin’s coaching career goes back to the early 90’s. He has held defensive coordinator jobs twice in the NFL, seeing stints as the Detroit Lions’ (2014-17) and Cincinnati Bengals’ (2018).

The latter stint was particularly bad, as Austin oversaw a Bengals defense that was historically poor, resulting in his being fired after nine games. He was only the second coordinator in 50 years to be fired by Cincy midseason.

Forget the actual name for a second though and understand the gravity of the team simply looking at candidates for the job. This means the Titans have come to terms with the fact that they got it wrong.

In 2020, the Titans never named a defensive coordinator, instead opting to use outside linebackers coach and rookie play-caller Shane Bowen, who had all of the duties of a defensive coordinator but without the official title.

And it didn’t work out. The Titans sported among the worst defenses in the NFL; however, it wasn’t all on Bowen, as key players underperformed and general manager Jon Robinson’s big additions proved to be busts.

Adding to all that, it seemed the Titans’ defense wasn’t good at making adjustments, which is on Bowen.

Putting the finger pointing aside for a second, the Titans entered 2020 with Super Bowl aspirations and should have had an experienced play-caller at the helm. It appears they’ve realized that, and the need for a change.

[listicle id=55010]

Steelers senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin interviews for Tennessee Titans DC position

The Steelers senior defensive assistant/secondary coach is interviewing for Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator role.

Per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Steelers senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Teryl Austin is interviewing for the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator position on Thursday.

Sharon, Pa.-born Austin joined the Steelers in 2019 after stints as defensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals.

With reports that Pittsburgh will offer a new contract to defensive coordinator Keith Butler, I wouldn’t blame Austin if he left for a better opportunity.

[vertical-gallery id=485773]

[listicle id=485755]

The NFL’s best defensive play-callers

Great players make great defenses happen, but great coaching is just as important. Here are the NFL’s best defensive minds in 2020.

When you look at the NFL’s best defenses in 2020 — the ones that are able to stay consistently efficient-to-dominant in a league that sets up success in the passing game above all — there are mandatory characteristics that transcend coordinator and scheme. Especially in an era in which sub-packages and hybrid defenders are the norm as opposed to the outlier, modern defenses must have these three things:

  1. Front multiplicity and gap confusion. Great defenses rarely show the same fronts twice in a row from play to play. You may see a base front on one play, and then, some sort of wicked NASCAR or amoeba front on the next. Then, variants of those concepts as drives continue. Those different looks challenge offensive protection calls, especially when offenses are running packages with three or more receivers on 65% of their plays. Then, when you create gap confusion with different line stunts and multi-level blitzes, you wind up with some very uncomfortable quarterbacks and fractured passing games. How many defensive linemen have their hands down, and how many are standing up? Where are they attacking based on where they start?
  2. Muddied looks at the linebacker level. When your defense has one or more moneybacks or monsterbacks — players who can affect offenses everywhere from the line of scrimmage to the deep third — you have an extreme tactical advantage you can use in all kinds of different ways. Move beyond the traditional stay-at-home linebacker, as modern defenses have, and you are able to present clear pre-snap looks to a quarterback and his receivers, and then go about doing radically different things after the snap. Throw linebacker pressure from the A-gaps and then drop into coverage from there, and even Russell Wilson will lose his place.
  3. Coverage switches in the secondary. It is the job of every modern defensive coordinator and secondary coach to plant schematic and spacing inabilities in the mind of the opposing quarterback. This is done in the secondary through the refusal to run coverage based on what is shown pre-snap. What might look like a Cover-0 jailbreak blitz pre-snap turns into 2-Man. What might look like a man defense indicator based on reaction to offensive motion becomes zone. That single-high safety look you see before you take the ball from the center is actually Cover-2 or Quarters, and as the quarterback, you now have to re-focus — especially if you’re running heavy play-action, you turn your back to the defense at your second step, and you turn back around at your fourth or fifth step to see something entirely different than what you expected.

You’ll see different iterations of these concepts among the NFL’s best defensive play-callers in 2020, but you won’t see the absence of any of them. Here, with all that said, are the league’s best defensive minds this season, and the staple ideas that make those defenses great.

Steelers secondary coach, Teryl Austin: DB Cam Sutton ‘has a great feel for the pass game’

The Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back will be situated to show he’s capable of a starting role on defense.

Heading into his fourth season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, big things going to be expected of defensive back Cam Sutton. It appears, according to secondary coach Teryl Austin, that he’ll have plenty of opportunities to show he’s a player worthy of a contract extension.

“I think Cam will have an expanded role, I would think in terms of—he will
still play some nickel for us, he plays some dime for us,” offered Austin during a Tuesday press conference. “He plays corner for us, he has played some safety for us.”

Sutton was a multi-positional player at Tennessee, so it’s only natural that his role expands with more playing time.

Austin spoke highly of that versatility Sutton brought with him to Pittsburgh in 2017.

“He has a lot of versatility, a super-smart guy. I think we will just carve out his role as it goes during the season and we will try to get him in there as many times as we can because he is a really good pass defender and he has a great feel for the pass game.”

That flexibility has made Sutton a valuable asset to the Steelers, as Austin has a player he can rely on to play inside, outside, or safety, depending on their opponents or the situations they’re in.

Sutton’s duties increased in 2019, and he embraced the challenge. After playing in dime packages during his second season, he shared with Mike Hilton the slot corner role in both nickel and dime packages.

In 227 coverage snaps, Sutton allowed just 14 receptions on 29 targets in 16 games for a Pro Football Focus grade of 74.5. With a coverage grade of only 56 in 2018, it was painfully obvious he needed to improve.

If the Steelers can craft a player- and team-friendly contract, Sutton could be the next man up if the Steelers aren’t able to extend the more expensive Hilton in 2021 — he just needs to continue to prove he’s capable of the call.

[vertical-gallery id=473802]

[lawrence-related id=469615]

GM Kevin Colbert indicates S Antoine Brooks could play sooner than later

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert is pleased with the selection of safety Antoine Brooks and the options his versatility offers.

The Steelers were looking for depth at safety, and they got one in the sixth round. A three-year starter for the Maryland Terps, Antoine Brooks, Jr. — a hybrid safety/linebacker — finished his senior year with a career-high 87 tackles, 8.5 TFL, one INT, five pass deflections, and one fumble recovery.

Brooks spent his first year as a reserve linebacker then, as a sophomore, moved to nickel corner. His sophomore season earned him Big Ten honorable mention. For Brooks’ performance at the safety position in his junior and senior seasons, he was third-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-Big Ten.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, a guest on Wednesday’s episode of Movin’ the Chains on Sirius XM, was asked if he has a sense of how the Steelers will utilize his versatility.

“We try to project where they’re going to play in a base defense. With Antoine, we feel comfortable that, in our base defense, he would be a safety,” Colbert explained. “But we talk about it all the time, base defenses really aren’t your bases any longer because you might only be in them a quarter of the time and the other times, you’re in subpackage.”

“So, a guy like Antoine Brooks fits into that subpackage mold because just like he did at Maryland playing in that slot, playing over the tight end, blitzing from the box, covering a back,” continued Colbert. “He’ll fit into those packages because he can do several different things related to the physicality necessary in the box with enough athleticism to cover — more so in the short zones and maybe in the deep type of coverage — but he certainly has that. And he certainly should be a contributor for Danny Smith on special teams because, again, of his athleticism and his physicality.”

Senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Teryl Austin echoed those sentiments in his post-draft press conference.

[Antoine] plays a little bit of everywhere. You will see him play down in the box, out on the slot, you will see him back some,” said Austin. “I think the biggest thing I liked about him is he was around the ball. He is going to be there, wherever that ball is, he is going to show up. He is very, very physical. I like that about him.”

“I also think when you watch, he has a really good feel for the game in terms of instincts and making quick decisions and not being afraid to make a decision. I think that is what you are looking for when you want a guy back there. He is going to diagnose and key and trust what he sees and then goes. I like that about him.”

A multi-position player like Brooks is valuable to the Steelers, and it will certainly increase his chances of making the final 55-man roster (per the CBA, the increase from 53 takes effect this season). Should Brooks progress enough to earn some defensive snaps this season, he has the potential to be a nightmare for opposing offenses.

No matter where the Steelers put him, Brooks is ready.

“Honestly, they can put me anywhere. I don’t care. I just want to play football to the best of my ability,” Brooks said. “I played nickel, I played in the slot, I played in the box. The box sees an awful lot for a player. I played in the box because I’m aggressive. That’s just my nature. I’m an aggressive tackler. I’m an aggressive player. I like to be in the play. Other than that, I did a lot of blitzing. I did a lot of moving around when I was at Maryland.

[vertical-gallery id=461859]

[lawrence-related id=463576]