After spending the past three seasons as the Steelers' senior defensive assistant/secondary coach, Teryl Austin got the bump up to defensive coordinator following the retirement of longtime assistant Keith Butler in the offseason.
Then, a short time later, Mike Tomlin also added former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to his staff as senior defensive assistant/linebackers, causing many to wonder what kind of tweaks Flores will bring to the defense.
Some have even seemingly forgotten that it is Austin, not Flores, who is the Steelers' defensive coordinator.
It might cause a rift on a staff that is less uncertain or experienced. But that doesn't appear to be the case at all with the Steelers, largely because both men are comfortable in their roles on Tomlin's staff.
It also doesn't hurt that the 57-year-old Austin, himself a former defensive coordinator in Detroit and Cincinnati while also interviewing for multiple head coaching positions over the years around the league -- though he ultimately never got that call -- understands how he was used as senior defensive assistant under Butler.
And he's comfortable listening to what others have to offer.
"I equate it to a player who has a lot of talent -- you use those talents. You don’t try to harness it and keep him in one spot," Austin said Wednesday as the Steelers completed the second day of their mandatory minicamp here at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "You see (Flores), he’s been doing a lot of things for us. He’s been working linebackers, secondary, D-line because he brings a wealth of knowledge. You don’t want to stifle that. I’m excited about him. We’ll see how we keep using him moving forward. But I know for a fact he’ll be nothing but a help."
That's what Flores, 41, is here to do. After his firing by the Dolphins, he interviewed for head coaching positions with the Giants and Texans but did not get those positions. He filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Dolphins, Giants and Texans on Feb. 1, and many felt he would not get another opportunity to coach again this year in the NFL.
But after speaking to Tomlin -- the NFL's senior minority head coach -- Flores was offered a position with the Steelers.
And Austin and Tomlin have not been shy about having Flores, who coached a number of different positions early in his career with the Patriots, work with different position groups in his time here.
"I’m trying to help in any way I can," Flores said Wednesday. "If that’s linebackers, obviously, but if it’s getting water, I’ll get water. Whatever it is to help the team win, that’s what I’m about, helping anyone I can get better. To me, that’s coaching."
That's what made it an easy call for Tomlin to add Flores to his staff. He's been a defensive play caller. He's been a head coach.
But it could have added an awkward dynamic if Austin wasn't comfortable in his position.
"It shapes out like a normal staff. You have the coordinator who is coordinating, putting things together," Austin said. "You have input from the staff and the head coach adds what he wants to add, things he wants to see in his defense because it is his team, and we go from there. It’s our defense. That’s the bottom line. Anything can happen on game day and anybody on our defense should be able to go out and call the defense and do a good job at it."
Tomlin took a larger hand in running the team's defense when Butler replaced Dick LeBeau as defensive coordinator in 2015. And, as head coach, as Austin said, he has things he wants to see from the defense.
Austin and Flores are both fine with that.
But Austin also knows that at the end of each game, he'll be the one judged for what the defense did or did not accomplish.
"I think I hope my finger prints will be that we’re going to be an aggressive defense," Austin said. "We’re going to be sound. We’re not going to give up big plays. We’re going to keep scores low and give ourselves a chance to win. We’ll see. Good defense requires getting off blocks, tackling, stopping the run and turning the ball over. If you can do those things, you’ll have a chance to be a real good defense."
That's the hope after a down season defensively for the Steelers. While the Steelers led the NFL in sacks for a league-record fifth-consecutive season in 2021, they were in the bottom half of the league in total yards allowed, last in rushing yards allowed and middle of the pack in scoring defense.
That's not good enough in Pittsburgh.
The infusion of Austin as the defensive schemer along with a coach such as Flores, who has a proven track record on that side of the ball, as well, is expected to make a difference.
Players have lauded Flores' demanding, technically disciplined style of coaching much the same way they did a few years ago when Austin was added and the team's turnover ratio jumped dramatically.
Austin would yell at defensive players in practice when the ball is on the ground to get it and go the other way, trying to build that muscle memory. It worked wonders, as the Steelers went from forcing 15 turnovers in 2018 to 38 in 2019, his first season with the team.
If Flores can make a similar impact, well, the hope is that the defense will return to form.
"Look, I’m demanding,” Flores said. “I make no bones about it. I think a lot of coaches are. That’s coaching. Our guys have responded to it well. When you’re trying to help someone grow, get better, they need those details. When you need that push to get to the next level, I’ll always do that."
As for his lawsuit against the league, Art Rooney II was quite clear at the league meetings in March that it won't be a distraction.
And Flores deferred all comments on it Wednesday, making it clear he's focused solely on his job of helping coach the Steelers' defense.
"I'm on an every-day journey to try to improve and get better. And that's what I want for myself and our players," Flores said. "My focus is really on today, this team, this practice. I try to live in the moment and not think about things that have happened in the past or really went too far in the future. I'm really excited about the opportunity here."
