Steelers’ 3 Best Options to Strengthen Their Defensive Staff Heading Into 2025

The Pittsburgh Steelers need to make some serious changes ahead of the 2025 season. That was made clear by the team’s embarrassing end to the 2024 campaign that saw the Steelers lost five games in a row, including a playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens. The organization has not won a playoff game in eight seasons, which is absolutely unacceptable and should be seen as a failure. Things need to be done differently moving forward, even if the main figures on the coaching staff remain the same.

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Steelers Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith as he stands near Head Coach Mike Tomlin during a 2024 practice at the UPMC Sports Complex in Pittsburgh, PA.

The Steelers are a classic organization that likes to do things the old way, which does not help the team’s success when the NFL is constantly evolving. The Steelers are still trying to be a run-first team when the league has clearly become pass-first. It makes no sense. The most successful teams in the NFL have larger coaching staffs, the Steelers have the seventh-smallest coaching staff in the league.

It isn’t just about hiring more coaches, but it is about hiring the right coaches. Defensive and offensive assistants are things that most teams have, and the Steelers may need to consider adding a defensive assistant after the unit struggled in 2024. It is the highest-paid defense in football. There is no excuse for Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin to not have this unit playing at a better level.

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Steelers’ Mike Tomlin ahead of a 2024 home game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

There are plenty of fans who want Austin fired, but it is far more likely that the organization just brings in more help for the coordinator. It would be similar to what the organization did when it hired Brian Flores as a defensive assistant.

There are plenty of talented defensive coaches out there with a ton of experience, and the Steelers need to begin to consider adding one or two assistants to the coaching staff. Some top names, assuming they do not get any of the vacant defensive coordinator gigs, are Ron Rivera, Mike Zimmer, and possibly even Rex Ryan.

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Former Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer speaks to the media during the 2024 season

Steelers Could Bring In Some Interesting Names To Help Defense

1). Ron Rivera

Rivera has plenty of head coaching experience at the NFL level, even bringing the Carolina Panthers to Super Bowl 50. Since then he was the coach of the Washington Commanders, where he was fired after the 2023 season. He has significant experience as both a defensive coordinator and a linebackers coach, which could be valuable if he joins Pittsburgh as an assistant.

Zimmer was a head coach in the NFL for eight seasons, and he served as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator during the 2024 season. He was not fired, but a coaching change in Dallas caused him to move on. He is 68-years old, so he may be looking to take some sort of assistant role that likely comes with less responsibly. His background is primarily with defensive backs and in the secondary, which is a spot the Steelers need some significant help.

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Ryan has worked with ESPN since being fired from the Buffalo Bills back in 2016, however he was a very successful coach with the New York Jets as he took that team to back-to-back AFC Championship Games. The Jets have yet to win a playoff game since. Ryan made it clear during his television appearances that he wanted to be considered for head coaching jobs during the 2025 coaching cycle, but it doesn’t look like he will be landing a job.

If this is a serious desire of Ryan moving forward, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to take on an assistant role to get back into the swing of things. He was one of the top defensive coordinator while with the Ravens, and he likely has some valuable knowledge to add to the Pittsburgh coaching staff.