Patrick Graham understands what fans expect from a Steelers defense. If he didn't know before he became the defensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, he knows now.
"The people in this town, they'll make it clear to you," Graham said Tuesday morning at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "It doesn't matter if it's at a gas station, if I'm out for dinner or at the airport, yeah, they let me know."
In understanding the expectation, he knows this defense has to be among the league's best. And, with what the franchise has invested in that side of the ball, there's no excuse for it.
The thing with Graham is, he doesn't care how much money is spent.
"I'm not going to get caught up in that," Graham said. "I understand that the expectation for any defense is to go out there and stop them from scoring points. That won't change, whether the price tag is whatever million here or whatever million there. ... The stakes are high. And, you invite that pressure."
Of course, it's only May. No games are won or lost yet. The team development is in its infancy, the playbooks just being truly installed for the first time. And at this stage, it's solely about the basics.
Listen to Graham talk about his vision for the defense, but also how they plan to get there:
"I think the benefit of being here with the Steelers is that there's a clear standard in terms of what the people of the city and the town and what the Rooney family, what they expect," Graham said. "I know we made mention to it, the Steel Curtain. I mentioned this before, there's no need for any gimmicks for me as a coordinator to come up with any gimmicks for what we gotta do. I don't have to make up any BS about that. I mean, the people in this town and just having time to be around the town and meet the people, it's clear. And again, the funny thing is they'll make it clear to you wherever you go to eat, in terms of what they expect. And I think it's kind of cool. It's a challenge. And I've said it before, we're trying to figure out and earn our way in this tradition of the Steeler defense. There's lofty goals there in terms of the teams that have come before us, all the great coaches that have been here before. We're just trying to earn our place in this tradition. And I know this: We're far away from that by any stretch of imagination right now, but we just got to work hard, put in the work, build day by day and go from there. But what I would anticipate: Physical, playing fast, getting the ball off the offense and doing it consistently. That's what you really see when you look at the great teams that have been here, defenses being consistent. And in order for us to be consistent, I think we've got to build our conditioning, we've got to make sure our communication is on point, we've got to get to know one another so that we can have those hard conversations when it doesn't look right. And so far, I've been real pleased with what the coaches have been doing, what the players have been doing to help build that. It's been positive so far."
You have to learn to walk before you can run. To do advanced calculus, you have to know basic arithmetic. That's what the defense is doing now at OTAs. Graham knows that, which is why he's saying how far they are from being where they want to go.
At the same time, it doesn't change what he expects this defense to be come Week 1.
THE ASYLUM
Graham has 'lofty' vision for Steelers' defense
Patrick Graham understands what fans expect from a Steelers defense. If he didn't know before he became the defensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, he knows now.
"The people in this town, they'll make it clear to you," Graham said Tuesday morning at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "It doesn't matter if it's at a gas station, if I'm out for dinner or at the airport, yeah, they let me know."
In understanding the expectation, he knows this defense has to be among the league's best. And, with what the franchise has invested in that side of the ball, there's no excuse for it.
The thing with Graham is, he doesn't care how much money is spent.
"I'm not going to get caught up in that," Graham said. "I understand that the expectation for any defense is to go out there and stop them from scoring points. That won't change, whether the price tag is whatever million here or whatever million there. ... The stakes are high. And, you invite that pressure."
Of course, it's only May. No games are won or lost yet. The team development is in its infancy, the playbooks just being truly installed for the first time. And at this stage, it's solely about the basics.
Listen to Graham talk about his vision for the defense, but also how they plan to get there:
"I think the benefit of being here with the Steelers is that there's a clear standard in terms of what the people of the city and the town and what the Rooney family, what they expect," Graham said. "I know we made mention to it, the Steel Curtain. I mentioned this before, there's no need for any gimmicks for me as a coordinator to come up with any gimmicks for what we gotta do. I don't have to make up any BS about that. I mean, the people in this town and just having time to be around the town and meet the people, it's clear. And again, the funny thing is they'll make it clear to you wherever you go to eat, in terms of what they expect. And I think it's kind of cool. It's a challenge. And I've said it before, we're trying to figure out and earn our way in this tradition of the Steeler defense. There's lofty goals there in terms of the teams that have come before us, all the great coaches that have been here before. We're just trying to earn our place in this tradition. And I know this: We're far away from that by any stretch of imagination right now, but we just got to work hard, put in the work, build day by day and go from there. But what I would anticipate: Physical, playing fast, getting the ball off the offense and doing it consistently. That's what you really see when you look at the great teams that have been here, defenses being consistent. And in order for us to be consistent, I think we've got to build our conditioning, we've got to make sure our communication is on point, we've got to get to know one another so that we can have those hard conversations when it doesn't look right. And so far, I've been real pleased with what the coaches have been doing, what the players have been doing to help build that. It's been positive so far."
You have to learn to walk before you can run. To do advanced calculus, you have to know basic arithmetic. That's what the defense is doing now at OTAs. Graham knows that, which is why he's saying how far they are from being where they want to go.
At the same time, it doesn't change what he expects this defense to be come Week 1.
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