First Call: Steelers interview 1st OC candidate; Mike Sullivan talks to Raiders; Teryl Austin likely staying
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Thursday’s “First Call” has tons of news about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coordinators. Their defensive coordinator appears to be staying. One of the former offensive coordinators might be leaving, and a candidate to replace him has been interviewed.
Meanwhile, the franchise will get an extra round against a Harbaugh brother in 2024. And the Duquesne women’s basketball team has kicked it in gear during conference play.
First name on the board
Thomas Brown is the first person to be interviewed for the Steelers’ vacant offensive coordinator position. The team made that announcement on Wednesday.
Brown was the OC with the Carolina Panthers last year. It was his first year in that role. He is 37 years old. The Panthers averaged a league-worst 13.9 points per game, with rookie Bryce Young at quarterback. They were also last in total yards per game (265.3) and last in passing yards per game (161.2). Their 104.1 yards rushing per contest ranked 20th.
Brown and former Panthers head coach Frank Reich flip-flopped play-calling duties at various times during last year’s chaotic 2-15 season.
Brown had an in-person interview with the Titans on Monday. ProFootballTalk.com reports that the Chicago Bears were curious about Brown before hiring former Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Prior to his arrival in Charlotte, Brown spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, coaching the running backs and, eventually, the tight ends. He was also the team’s assistant head coach in 2021-22.
The Steelers have also reportedly requested an interview with Zac Robinson. He’s a current offensive assistant with the Rams. Clearly, the Steelers have an interest in potentially absorbing some of the success head coach Sean McVay has had in L.A. on offense.
OK with T.A.
It looks like Teryl Austin is coming back as the Steelers’ defensive coordinator. That’s according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
On Wednesday night, he posted that the team is nearing a new two-year contract with Austin. He has been on Mike Tomlin’s staff since 2019. The native of Sharon was a defensive coordinator in Detroit and Cincinnati before coming to Pittsburgh as the secondary coach under then-coordinator Keith Butler. The former Pitt Panther took over the coordinator reins in 2022.
This year, the Steelers ranked sixth in scoring defense (19.1 points per game). They were 10th in that category (20.4 points per game) the year before. In 2022, they were 13th in yards allowed at 330.4. This year, they ended up 21st at 340.2.
Austin’s defense was ravaged by injuries this year. Cameron Heyward missed six games. Minkah Fitzpatrick missed seven. Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb were subtracted midway through the season from an inside linebacker group that had been rebuilt. And T.J. Watt missed the playoff loss in Buffalo because of an MCL injury.
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Sully in Silver and Black?
Mike Sullivan has been the Steelers quarterbacks coach since 2021. This year, he split offensive coordinator duties with Eddie Faulkner once Matt Canada was fired after Week 11. Now he’s interviewing with another NFL franchise.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, the Las Vegas Raiders are going to interview Sullivan for their vacant offensive coordinator position.
The #Raiders will interview #Steelers QB coach Mike Sullivan for their offensive coordinator job, sources say. Sullivan, who called plays this season after Matt Canada was fired, was an assistant on Tom Coughlin’s #Giants staff while Antonio Pierce captained the defense.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 24, 2024
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has already stated that he plans to replace Canada with someone outside the organization.
Via RaidersWire.com, over the past few days, Zac Robinson, Alex Van Pelt and Luke Getsy (Munhall) have all been named as coaches that the Raiders will interview for their offensive coordinator gig. Van Pelt and Getsy were both quarterbacks at Pitt. Getsy also played at Akron.
Thrice as nice
The Steelers will face a Harbaugh three times next year.
Of course, they will battle John Harbaugh twice in the annual AFC North home-and-away series against the Baltimore Ravens. Now, they will go up against Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, as well.
After taking the Michigan Wolverines to a college football national championship this year, Harbaugh has decided to come back to the NFL. He will coach the Los Angeles Chargers. ESPN is reporting that he signed a five-year contract with the franchise Wednesday.
The Steelers and Chargers are slated to play each other in Pittsburgh in 2024. Dates and times for next year’s games have yet to be announced.
The Harbaugh brothers will face each other as well. The Ravens are scheduled to be in L.A. at some point next season. Whenever that happens, I’m sure the game won’t be annoyingly overhyped at all.
Nope. Not one bit.
Harbaugh will be the first former Chargers player to return to the team as a head coach. He played for them in 1999 and 2000 before retiring after the 2000 season. Harbaugh was 86-25 at Michigan. He was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14, winning the NFC Championship in 2012-13. That year’s team went on to Super Bowl XLVII and lost to his brother’s team from Baltimore.
Heating up
The Duquesne women’s basketball team is finding its stride. They have now won three in a row and four of five.
The Dukes beat Richmond 72-59 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Wednesday night. They improved to 11-8 overall, 6-2 in the Atlantic 10. That was the first conference loss for the Spiders, who fell to 17-4 and 7-1 in the A-10.
Jerni Kiaku led the way with 18 points. Amaya Hamilton added 16, and Ayanna Townsend chipped in with 14. Guard Megan McConnell posted a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Bank's open for @megg_mcconnell4 pic.twitter.com/3LfB1ULxM1
— Duquesne Women's Basketball (@DuqWBB) January 24, 2024
Up next, Dan Burt’s club hosts Loyola Chicago on Sunday.