Report: Titans interviewing Steelers’ secondary coach Teryl Austin for DC

The Tennessee Titans are reportedly looking into hiring a defensive coordinator ahead of the 2021 season.

According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Titans will interview Pittsburgh Steelers defensive assistant and secondary coach, Terryl Austin, for their defensive coordinator position.

Austin’s coaching career goes back to the early 90’s. He has held defensive coordinator jobs twice in the NFL, seeing stints as the Detroit Lions’ (2014-17) and Cincinnati Bengals’ (2018).

The latter stint was particularly bad, as Austin oversaw a Bengals defense that was historically poor, resulting in his being fired after nine games. He was only the second coordinator in 50 years to be fired by Cincy midseason.

Forget the actual name for a second though and understand the gravity of the team simply looking at candidates for the job. This means the Titans have come to terms with the fact that they got it wrong.

In 2020, the Titans never named a defensive coordinator, instead opting to use outside linebackers coach and rookie play-caller Shane Bowen, who had all of the duties of a defensive coordinator but without the official title.

And it didn’t work out. The Titans sported among the worst defenses in the NFL; however, it wasn’t all on Bowen, as key players underperformed and general manager Jon Robinson’s big additions proved to be busts.

Adding to all that, it seemed the Titans’ defense wasn’t good at making adjustments, which is on Bowen.

Putting the finger pointing aside for a second, the Titans entered 2020 with Super Bowl aspirations and should have had an experienced play-caller at the helm. It appears they’ve realized that, and the need for a change.

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