Mike Tomlin has spent the previous a number of weeks interviewing NFL candidates to find out who’d be awarded the position of defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a lot consideration, the Steelers have made the anticipated choice to look inward — closing in on a deal to make assistant defensive and secondary coach Teryl Austin the workforce’s subsequent DC, as confirmed by CBS Sports activities NFL insider Josina Anderson on NFL Professional Bowl Sunday. Austin succeeds Keith Butler, who’s retiring.

Austin, 56, is actually not missing in teaching expertise as he readies for the lead defensive seat in Pittsburgh. 

A former participant on the College of Pittsburgh, Austin started his teaching profession as a graduate assistant for Penn State in 1991 and spent greater than a decade serving to to teach defenses on the collegiate degree earlier than getting into the ranks of the NFL by means of a defensive backs coach for the Seattle Seahawks in 2003. His NFL journey additionally consists of teaching stints with the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals, finally touchdown with the Steelers in his current-turned-former position in 2019.

The additional advantage of retaining the rent in-house is Tomlin has no concern about chemistry with Austin, having now waved off different excessive profile candidates like up-and-comer Joe Whitt Jr., the secondary coach for the Dallas Cowboys who’s been making his rounds on the interview circuit this offseason. It is now Austin’s present in Pittsburgh, hoping use the prowess of T.J. Watt to assist the workforce regain glory from their well-known days as the scary “Metal Curtain”.