The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to act on their problems only when things end in a disaster. They will begin 2026 with a new defensive coordinator in Patrick Graham, who replaces Teryl Austin. Even though  Graham’s arrival seems promising, the scars left by Austin’s handling of the defense are fresh in Juan Thornhill’s memory.

“I didn’t enjoy playing for that DC,” the former Steelers safety said in a TikTok replying to a fan, per Steeler Nation.

According to Sportrac, Pittsburgh spent $173 million on defense, the second-highest figure in the league. However, it finished 26th overall and 29th against the pass this season.

Last season, the Steelers allowed 30+ points in four of the first seven games. In November, the Buffalo Bills steamrolled Pittsburgh with a 26-7 victory at the Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers allowed 387 points in total, the 16th-highest figure in the league. They also gave up 4,437 passing yards, which slots in as the third-highest total.

The Steelers seemed to have consistently worsened in this stat. Austin’s defense allowed 4,066 yards in his first year at Pittsburgh and 4,164 yards in 2023. It marginally improved to 4,151 yards allowed in 2024, before dropping to the alarming figure from 2025.

The defense was so bad that Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Flacco tallied a season-high 342 yards against the Steelers, after going 1-3 as a starter for the Cleveland Browns that year.

However, it was also suspected that Austin never had full control of the defense. He did call most plays, but Tomlin also played a part. Austin’s predecessor at Pittsburgh, Keith Butler, told 97.3 The Fan that the head coach had been calling plays since the last few seasons of Dick LeBeau’s tenure with the team.

Austin became the final piece of Tomlin’s old staff to land elsewhere, taking a senior defensive assistant role with the Cardinals.

Then there’s the Juan Thornhill situation. Pittsburgh signed him in March last year, and he played nine games, racking up 38 tackles before getting released midseason.

What Mike Tomlin said about releasing Juan Thornhill

During training camp last year, Thornhill was confident that this defense would be the “best of all time”. However, throughout the season, he was proven wrong. After getting released, he was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars for their practice squad. In his place, the Steelers re-signed then-rookie Sebastian Castro from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad.

According to Mike Tomlin, Thornhill didn’t deliver what was expected.

“The play wasn’t up to snuff,” the former head coach said in November 2025. “And Castro was available to us. We went through the team development process with Castro. I thought he had a good camp, good preseason. He played his tail off in that practice with the Bucs, I think that’s why they stole him from us. … It was more about Castro and less about Juan.”

Unfortunately, Thornhill remains unsigned as of now.