The Arizona Cardinals already announced their new head coach, their new and returning coordinators and their assistant coaches, both new and returning. However, they are making another addition on the defensive staff.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Cardinals are adding former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin as a senior assistant.
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It won’t be Austin’s first stint in Arizona. He was defensive backs coach for the Cardinals from 2007-2009 under head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
Austin brings tons of experience to the staff. We will see how that works with retained defensive coordinator Nick Rallis.
The Cardinals now have two defensive assistants who have been defensive coordinators. One is Austin and the other is new defensive line coach Pete Kwiatkowski, who was a college defensive coordinator for Texas and Washington.
The one question that comes up is whether the Cardinals now have lined up a guy to replace Rallis if the defense struggles again.
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Teryl Austin NFL coaching career
Austin was in the college ranks from 1991-2002. After that, he has been in the NFL, except for a stint at Florida in 2010.
2003-2006: Seattle Seahawks, defensive backs coach
2007-2009: Arizona Cardinals, defensive backs coach
2011-2013: Baltimore Ravens, secondary coach
2014-2017: Detroit Lions, defensive coordinator
2018: Cincinnati Bengals, defensive coordinator
2019-2021: Pittsburgh Steelers, senior defensive assistant/secondary coach
2022-2025: Pittsburgh Steelers, defensive coordinator
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals adding Teryl Austin as senior assistant