SF 49ers: 3 best replacements for Robert Saleh if he leaves in 2021
By Peter Panacy
SF 49ers Defensive Coordinator Candidate No. 2: Teryl Austin
The Pittsburgh Steelers are likely to see a lot of their assistants under head coach Mike Tomlin purged after their red-hot 10-0 start to the season.
And with the league’s new rule preventing teams from blocking interviews for assistants, the SF 49ers should be heavily interested in looking at Pittsburgh’s senior defensive assistant and secondary coach under coordinator Keith Butler, Teryl Austin.
Austin has 17 years of coaching experience already, including five years as defensive coordinator and 10 as a defensive backs coach elsewhere. Between 2014 and 2017, he actually worked with Kris Kocurek with the Detroit Lions, so those two would have a beneficial relationship and understanding now translated over to the Niners’ ranks.
As far as the accolades? Well, aside from a forgettable 2018 campaign with the Cincinnati Bengals in which he had too few quality players at his disposal, Austin’s follow-up season with Pittsburgh in 2019 resulted in 11 games where the Steelers’ opponents passed for less than 200 yards — a league best that year.
And in 2020, the Steelers own the league’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense with a pass defense allowing just 5.3 yards per attempt — second best.
If the Niners want to maintain their strong secondary while keeping up an elite (when healthy) pass rush, Austin would get the most out of it.