Mike Tomlin is digging in to find a replacement for defensive coordinator Keith Butler, who announced his retirement Saturday.
But who that replacement will be could help shape what his team looks like moving forward.
Senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Teryl Austin is the leading candidate to replace Butler, who had been the team's defensive coordinator since 2015 and been with the team since 2003.
But Tomlin also has requested permission to speak to the Giants' defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, as well. Graham is still currently under contract with New York despite the team firing head coach Joe Judge last week. Graham is expected to interview for the open head coaching position with the team later this week.
Reports also surfaced Monday night the team has requested permission to speak to Saints secondary coach Kris Richard. Before joining the Saints this season, Richard was defensive coordinator for the Seahawks from 2015 through 2017. He also served as defensive backs coach in Dallas in 2018 and 2019.
The question is, how much control of the defense will the new coordinator have?
Tomlin took over many of the play-calling duties when he elevated Butler, with whom he had worked previously as a college coach at both Arkansas State and Memphis. Butler was initially hired by Bill Cowher as linebackers coach in 2003.
Twelve head coaches finished the 2021 regular season as the primary offensive play caller for their respective teams, including Andy Reid in Kansas City, Sean McVay with the Rams, Kyle Shanahan with the 49ers and Zac Taylor with the Bengals. Coincidentally, all four of those teams will compete in next weekend's conference championship games.
Five head coaches served as their team's primary defensive play caller in 2021, including Tomlin. But two of those, Vic Fangio in Denver and Mike Zimmer in Minnesota, were fired at the end of the season.
That means over half of the head coaches in the NFL served as their team's primary play caller on one side of the ball or the other.
But will Tomlin be able to find a defensive coordinator who is willing to take a back seat to his play calling?
Certainly Austin already knows the situation and just how big of a hand Tomlin has in calling plays, having been with the Steelers the past three seasons.
And he already served under another head coach, Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis, who had a big hand in calling the defense, in 2018 before joining the Steelers. Prior to that, he had been a defensive coordinator in Detroit from 2014 through 2018. The Lions ranked 2nd, 18th, 18th and 27th in his four seasons in total defense.
Prior to that, he spent three seasons as secondary coach with the Ravens, winning a Super Bowl, and also has coached with the Cardinals -- going to a Super Bowl in 2008 against the Steelers -- and Seahawks prior to that.
Graham was defensive coordinator for the Giants the past two seasons, with his unit finishing 12th and 21st in total defense. Prior to that, he was coordinator with the Dolphins for one season in 2019.
He spent the 2018 season with the Packers as linebackers coach/running game coordinator, joining Green Bay after two seasons as the Giants defensive line coach. Prior to that, he had spent the 2009 through 2015 seasons with the Patriots, rising from coaching assistant to coaching the defensive line and linebackers at different times and winning one Super Bowl while going to another.
Graham comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree and Belichick plays a heavy role in the defensive play calling.
But would Graham want to take a step back with Tomlin calling the plays? Or, will Tomlin take a step back and allow a defensive coordinator to make the calls?
When asked about it earlier this season, Tomlin didn't seem keen on giving up that role.
"I'm fully engaged in preparation in all three phases of the game and have been, and I absorbed responsibility of what we put out there," Tomlin said. "That comes with what I do. I don't run away from it. I run to it."
