If the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to make significant changes this offseason, it’s not going to be at head coach or their coordinators.
Steelers owner Art Rooney II told the team’s play-by-play announcer Rob King in a 1-on-1 interview released on the team website that both offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin will return in 2025.
“Mike [Tomlin] certainly knows he’s evaluating his staff and will continue to do so. But the coaching staff, I think most of it will stay in place. Our coordinators, I think, will stay in place,” said Rooney.
“I look forward to having Arthur Smith for a second year and having him have more of an opportunity to kind of really put his system in place. So, there’s work to be done.
“For the most part, I think we have the right people and the right jobs to do it.”
It was never really in question whether the Steelers wanted to bring back Smith. But he had head coaching interviews this offseason with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets.
Smith was only in his first season as Steelers offensive coordinator in 2024. Although the offense struggled over the final month, it improved overall from 2023 to 2024.
Teryl Austin, though, was a potential coach to be fired after the Steelers defense collapsed at the end of his third season as defensive coordinator. The Steelers finished 25th in pass defense last season after being 17th in the category during 2023.
Steelers Keeping Both Arthur Smith & Teryl Austin
Although it’s probably not fair to consider what Rooney said official, it’s rather clear Smith and Austin will both be back in 2025.
If the Steelers were going to make a change at coordinator this offseason, the team likely would have already parted with Smith or Austin. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported both coaches are under contract for 2025. Typically, the Steelers don’t move on from coordinators until their contracts expire.
An argument can be made that both Austin and Smith deserve to stay anyway. The Steelers have more sacks and takeaways than any other NFL team since Austin arrived in 2019.
During 2024, the Steelers ranked tied for first in the league with 33 takeaways. They were tied for eighth in takeaways in 2023.
But Pittsburgh’s success over the past six seasons at pressuring quarterbacks also came under previous defensive coordinator Keith Butler. His units led the NFL in sacks during 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Since then, Austin’s units have never ranked in the top 10 of sacks. During Austin’s tenure, Pittsburgh’s blitz percentage has also declined.
But Rooney clearly indicated the Steelers plan to keep the status quo on defense. The same will likely occur with Smith and the offense despite a highly disappointing finish to the season.
In their final five games, including the playoffs, the Steelers failed to score more than 17 points. It was the first time since 1969 the team went five consecutive games without tallying more than 17 points.
Under Smith, though, the Steelers offense improved across the board statistical during his first season. Granted, there wasn’t really anywhere to go but up after Pittsburgh fired Matt Canada mid-season in 2023.
How Does Arthur Smith’s Return Impact Russell Wilson, QB Search?
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin emphasized that there likely would be significant changes for the franchise this offseason. If that’s still to occur, the big change for the Steelers could again be behind center.
With Smith returning, it would make sense for the Steelers to move in another direction at quarterback. Team insider Mark Kaboly reported Smith and Russell Wilson didn’t have a healthy working relationship.
“Despite Wilson and Smith spending countless hours together after the typical workday watching film and publicly joking about it, a team source recently said that Wilson and Smith did not have a very good working relationship but fought through their differences as best they could,” wrote Kaboly on January 14.
Wilson began his Steelers tenure 6-1 before the team’s five-game losing streak to end the 2024 campaign.
Still, that doesn’t really mean the Steelers will make a significant change at quarterback. Rooney told reporters on January 27 that his preference is either Wilson or Justin Fields to return.
The Steelers could re-sign Fields to both improve their starting quarterback’s chemistry with Smith and satisfy their team owner’s preference.
For other changes, the Steelers could look to alter their coaching staff at the positional level. Among those coaches, offensive line coach Pat Meyer is probably on the hottest seat.
The Pittsburgh offensive line has improved but only marginally based on the amount of free agency and draft capital the team has invested in the unit.
Meyer just finished his third season as Steelers offensive line coach. He has coached NFL offensive line units in some capacity since 2013.
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