During his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t directly asked if he had any plans to fire defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
However, he was asked if absorbing sole play-calling duties from Austin is something he has considered.
“No,” Tomlin replied. “That’s not on the table as we sit here today. Just got to keep doing what we are doing and do it better.”
Tomlin was also asked to evaluate Austin’s performance.
“I’ve known Teryl for a long time. Very capable and thorough,” Tomlin answered. “I have largely been pleased with his work. Certainly, he and I are not pleased with where we are right now from a defensive unit perspective. So, we’re just going to keep working.”
The questions about Austin’s future are warranted, given the defense’s collapse at the end of last season and its repeated failures this year.
But, I’m sorry. I just don’t have the stomach for another blame-shifting, coordinator witch hunt in Pittsburgh. I’m sick of those chapters of the Tomlin era.
Especially on the defensive side of the ball. That’s Tomlin’s baby. And this year, that baby is growing up like Damien from “The Omen.”
But haven’t we all had it up to our chins with this tired pattern of Steelers scapegoating?
On the offensive side, it was “Fire Bruce Arians” because he was going to get Big Ben killed.
Then it was “Fire Todd Haley” because he wasn’t on the same page with Ben.
“Fire Randy Fichtner” because he never challenged Ben.
“Fire Matt Canada” because he was useless without Ben.
On defense, it was “Get rid of Dick LeBeau” because the game had passed him by.
“Fire Keith Butler” because he was just Tomlin’s buddy.
Now it’s “Fire Austin” because … of habit?
The whole time, Tomlin’s job has never really been in question.
We gotta stop with this. In particular, when it comes to the defense. There’s no reason to fire Austin midseason and keep Tomlin.
None.
This is Tomlin’s defense. If you want to tell me Austin should go because he’s not a good play caller when it comes to administering Tomlin’s gameday plan in between the whistles, OK. I’ll listen to that.
After all, Austin’s job is to “coordinate” the defense, and perhaps the last word in the dictionary I’d use to describe this defense since Game 13 of last year is “coordinated.”
It’s more like discombobulated.
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So if the Steelers want to kick Austin to the curb and replace him with a new coordinator that actually has autonomy of the defense in the same way the offensive coordinators seem to have had in the past — the way we thought might happen if the club kept former linebackers coach Brian Flores — fine. Although that’s not happening until the offseason.
Let’s see who will want that job, knowing that Tomlin is still the most powerful guy in the building. It kind of feels like a moot discussion to me.
The bottom line is that we should be done with swapping out lieutenants when the truth is it’s the general’s fault that the troops are stuck in the mud.
If the defense is so broken that it needs new leadership, Tomlin should be fired too. It’s his design. It’s his preferred personnel. It’s the unit he declared would be “historic” before the season began.
Now the only history that group may write is being so bad that it could get a coordinator canned midseason while the team is still in first place.
I’m not trying to absolve Austin from blame. Everyone deserves blame. The players. The front office. Austin. Tomlin. The position coaches. The media for advancing the “historic” narrative in August, and the fans for believing it.
But we are so clearly at the point now where only two things are going to matter when it really comes to influencing change on this organization: firing the head coach and/or finding the next franchise quarterback.
I’m done holding my breath waiting for either one to happen.
I can’t wait to see who the new defensive coordinator is in 2026. There will probably be one. And I also can’t wait to see how that guy’s defense gets to 9-8 as well with Tomlin still in charge.
Listen: Tim Benz and Joe Rutter discuss Mike Tomlin’s press conference from Tuesday afternoon
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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