It’s taken nearly two months. But former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has found a new home.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Austin is joining the Arizona Cardinals defensive staff as a senior assistant.
“More experience for new head coach Mike LaFleur,” wrote Fowler on X.
More experience for new head coach Mike LaFleur.
Austin will bring 22 years of NFL coaching experience to first-year Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur. Austin has worked as a defensive coordinator for nine seasons, including four from his Steelers tenure.
In 2019, Austin actually joined the Steelers in a similar fashion to his new job with the Cardinals. From 2019-21, he served as a senior defensive assistant and secondary coach for Pittsburgh.
Then in 2022, Austin replaced Keith Butler as Steelers defensive coordinator. Austin remained in that role for four seasons until Mike Tomlin resigned in January.
Teryl Austin Lands Job With Cardinals: Report
Austin was the last remaining Steelers assistant from Tomlin’s final staff unemployed. That fact confirmed what a lot of Steelers Nation preached late in Tomlin’s tenure — Austin wasn’t a great defensive coordinator.
The statistics suggested that too. The Steelers defense was 10th in points allowed and 13th in yards yielded during Austin’s first season as DC. For the most part, the unit grew progressively worse during his tenure.
At the start of 2024, Austin’s defense looked like it was going to be elite. It started the season very strongly but fell apart late in the campaign.
During 2025, the Steelers defense finished 26th in yards allowed. That was Pittsburgh’s worst defensive ranking since 1988.
Austin’s Pittsburgh defenses emphasized takeaways. The Steelers were tied for first in that category during 2024 and ranked fourth in 2025.
But when the takeaways dried up, usually against the top offenses in the league, the Steelers defense struggled.
Austin’s NFL Coaching Resume
The newest Cardinals defensive assistant began his coaching career as a defensive backs coach for the Seattle Seahawks in 2003. His first defensive coordinator opportunity came with the Detroit Lions in 2014.
The Lions had an elite defense that season under Austin. Detroit finished second in yards allowed and third in points yielded.
However, the Lions were unable to repeat that success under Austin. A big reason why was Detroit lost defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in NFL free agency before the 2015 campaign.
Austin’s tenure in Detroit ended when the team fired head coach Jim Caldwell after 2017. Austin immediately became Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator in 2018. But that was a disaster tenure.
The Bengals defense was last in yards allowed and 30th in points during 2018. Austin was in the role for only one year before Cincinnati changed head coaches.
Interestingly, Austin previously coached with the Cardinals. He was Arizona’s defensive backs coach from 2007-09. Austin was on the Arizona staff which lost the Super Bowl to the Steelers in January 2009.
Before his stint with the Seahawks, Austin coached defensive backs at the college level for a decade. Austin mentored defensive backs at Wake Forest, Syracuse and Michigan.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Joe Paterno.
Overall, Austin has 35 years of coaching experience.
That should be very useful in Arizona for LaFleur, who is only 39 years old.
Ex-Steelers DC Teryl Austin Finally Lands New Job: Report