On Saturday, the NY Giants requested permission to interview Steelers’ assistant defensive and secondary coach, Teryl Austin, for their defensive coordinator position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, the Steelers gave them the Heisman and will be, according to Josina Anderson<\/a>, promoting Austin to defensive coordinator, a position left vacant after former defensive coordinator, Keith Butler, retired last month after 19 years with the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Austin, 56, gives the Steelers stability on the defensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He joined Pittsburgh in 2019 after stints with the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Austin played at the University of Pittsburgh and began his coaching career at Penn State as a graduate assistant in 1991. He spent a decade in the collegiate ranks before joining the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks as their defensive backs coach in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Austin’s name garnered national attention last week when he was named in the blistering lawsuit filed by Brian Flores<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In it, Flores claimed that the NFL’s hiring practices were racist and detailed the experiences of other Black coaches including Austin, Jim Caldwell and Eric Bieniemy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “After success with the Seahawks, Ravens and Lions,” said the lawsuit<\/a>. “Mr. Austin was interviewed for no fewer than 10 open Head Coach positions. He was rejected for each one.”<\/p>