{"id":796995,"date":"2026-03-06T21:20:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T21:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/796995\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T21:20:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T21:20:40","slug":"az-digest-cards-to-bring-on-defensive-assistant-according-to-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/796995\/","title":{"rendered":"AZ Digest. Cards to bring on defensive assistant, according to report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winter sports are winding down and spring sports are starting up in Arizona, and there\u2019s plenty of activity. College basketball at Arizona State and Grand Canyon is getting closer to the tournament, while baseball and softball are beginning. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns’ NBA G League affiliate, the Valley Suns, is well into the season and Phoenix Rising FC is about to start its regular season.<\/p>\n

Here are the news and events happening around Arizona sports:<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Teryl Austin, who has 22 years of coaching experience in the NFL, including nine seasons as a defensive coordinator with three different franchises, is joining new coach Mike LaFleur\u2019s staff with the Arizona Cardinals as a senior defensive assistant.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler was the first to report the hire, which has yet to be announced by the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

Austin, 61, has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019, first serving as a senior defensive assistant and defensive backs coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2022 and serving in that role through last season. He was not retained under new head coach Mike McCarthy.<\/p>\n

1 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Nick Rallis (defensive coordinator) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

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1 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Nick Rallis (defensive coordinator) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Nick Rallis (defensive coordinator) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

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3 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Hackett (offensive coordinator) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

4 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Hackett (offensive coordinator) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

5 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Hackett (offensive coordinator) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

6 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Michael Ghobrial (special teams coordinator) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

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7 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Mike LaFleur (head coach) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

8 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Mike LaFleur (head coach) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

9 \/ 9<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals introduce coordinators for 2026 season<\/p>\n

Mike LaFleur (head coach) answers questions during a news conference at the Arizona Cardinals training facility in Tempe on Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Austin previously served as defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions (2014-17) and Cincinnati Bengals (2018). He also coached defensive backs for the Seattle Seahawks (2003-06), the Cardinals (2007-09) and the Baltimore Ravens (2011-13).<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bob McManaman<\/p>\n

Reach the reporter or send tips for stories at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com<\/a>, as well as @jennarortiz<\/a> on X. <\/p>\n

Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now<\/a>. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters<\/a> so you don’t miss a thing. <\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals to hire defensive assistant, report says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winter sports are winding down and spring sports are starting up in Arizona, and there\u2019s plenty of activity.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":796996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,6221,2604,1327,256,18234,9337,2792,7,6,111887,18534,57,30261,111888,111886],"class_list":{"0":"post-796995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizona-state","11":"tag-arizonacardinals","12":"tag-cardinals","13":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","14":"tag-college-basketball","15":"tag-defensive-backs","16":"tag-defensive-coordinator","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-phoenix-rising-fc","20":"tag-phoenix-suns","21":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","22":"tag-teryl-austin","23":"tag-valley-suns","24":"tag-winter-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116184328870418762","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}