OT: Detroit Lions hire Teryl Austin as defensive coordinator
Jim Caldwell moved quickly on assembling is staff, as it appears he has brought on Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach Teryl Austin to take over as the defensive coordinator for the Lions. This is being reported by the Baltmore Sun and NBCSports, but the Lions have stated they will not provide an official announcement tonight. Austin seems to be a good hire as he has done a great job with the defensive backs in Baltimore.
The big question to be answered next is who will be the offensive coordinator?
January 15th, 2014 at 11:00 PM ^
Per ESPN a deal to bring in Jim Tressel in some capacity (likely as OC) is pending approval in the league office.
http://espn.go.com/blog/cleveland-browns/post/_/id/3397/tressels-ties-to-jim-caldwell-are-strong
One person close to Tressel even said a deal to bring him to Detroit has been agreed to, pending approval of the front office. That has not been confirmed by the Lions or Tressel, though. Caldwell will be introduced to the Lions media Wednesday afternoon.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 11:49 PM ^
January 16th, 2014 at 12:22 AM ^
January 16th, 2014 at 3:11 AM ^
January 16th, 2014 at 8:19 AM ^
Some teams manage. Just sayin'.
January 16th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
And that is that if a team is sloppy and has discipline problems you probably don't want to bring in a nice guy players coach to run things.
January 16th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^
With a ton of cash in my 20s and early 30s? Disaster, say nothing of discipline.
January 16th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^
I know what I would have been like: AWESOME.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:33 PM ^
January 16th, 2014 at 12:06 AM ^
I'm looking for the guy who said "welp, it can't get any worse". I'll let you know when I find him.
January 16th, 2014 at 9:26 AM ^
Who's this guy?? Never heard of him. But he IS African American...so...he's qualified!
Mayhew loves him some Tony Dungy, who pimps Caldwell, who assembles all African American staff. Good work Lions!
January 16th, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
wikipedia copy/paste
Austin then began a career in coaching, landing a position as a graduate assistant at Penn State in 1991. In 1993, he accompanied fellow Penn State assistant Jim Caldwell to Wake Forest where he served as secondary coach.[1] Austin went on to serve on the coaching staffs at Syracuse and Michiganbefore joining the Seattle Seahawks' staff in 2003, helping Seattle advance to Super Bowl XL in 2006.
He joined the Arizona Cardinals coaching staff as coach of defensive backs in 2007. He helped the team reach Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.
On February 12, 2010, it was announced that Austin had been hired as the defensive coordinator for the Florida Gators.[2] His tenure as defensive coordinator ended following the Gators' 37–24 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2011 Outback Bowl, and head coach Urban Meyer's resignation in December 2010.
On January 26, 2011, it was announced that Austin had been hired as the secondary coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL.
On January 16, 2014, it was announced that Austin had been hired as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the NFL.
January 16th, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
the "Win Now" Lions pick-up a DC who has NEVER been a DC at the NFL level? Awesome. Here's to 2-14 in 2014!
January 16th, 2014 at 9:56 AM ^
Racist much?
January 16th, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
just stating reality. Dungy did the same thing. Preferential treatment in hiring candidates for all of his coordinators and position coaches. Look it up.
January 16th, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
I'll take that as a "yes."
And I looked it up. Dungy and his staff won the Super Bowl. I would consider that qualified.
January 17th, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^
I was speaking about Tressel - see the second comment. Forgive me for not including a full disclaimer for asshats like yourself. Take off your blinders and look at the number of Tressel related comments in this thread.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:39 PM ^
/s
January 16th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
Posted the same thing earlier this week.
January 16th, 2014 at 12:49 AM ^
At least he'd finally lose in Michigan, AM I RIGHT?? Ha haaa.... *cries a little*
January 16th, 2014 at 1:17 AM ^
I guess my expectations aren't to high for them.
Word Scramble of the Day...what can you spell with the letters below??
Ditroint Lose
January 16th, 2014 at 6:08 AM ^
There was also some buzz on Twitter and in some papers on the East Coast that Caldwell might bring in Ron Prince from Rutgers to be the OC as well. I believe Prince was an assistant with the Colts briefly while Caldwell was the head coach, although I could be mistaken there. All the same, that's out there as well.
January 16th, 2014 at 8:21 AM ^
I've been a heart beat from going Lions-free for years. This would do it. Then you guys can thank me, as that obviously would cause them to win it all.
January 16th, 2014 at 9:27 AM ^
No. Just no.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:01 PM ^
Austin served on Lloyd's staff for a few years around ~2000, IIRC. Interesting hire.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
"Defensive assistant" from 99-02
Edit: I thought he was the DB coach, but I can't find anything to confirm that. I would imagine that he was a DB coach though.
January 16th, 2014 at 12:19 AM ^
Pretty sure that's what he was.
January 16th, 2014 at 4:54 PM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
That is a false report. He was hired by Miami.
January 16th, 2014 at 1:01 AM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 11:13 PM ^
I heard Ron English might be joining the defensive staff in some capacity. Can anyone confirm that?
January 15th, 2014 at 11:50 PM ^
January 16th, 2014 at 12:00 AM ^
He has one year as a DC under his belt (at Florida in 2010), none in the NFL.
At Florida his defense ranked 29th according to FEI. They were better before (15th in 2009) and ~the same after (33rd in 2011).
January 16th, 2014 at 12:21 AM ^
Schedule for this football season:
Sat: Watch football
Sun: Play golf
January 16th, 2014 at 3:17 AM ^
January 16th, 2014 at 8:22 AM ^
No @#$%. It's amazing how people are convincing themselves this retread is going to turn around the Detroit freaking Lions.
January 16th, 2014 at 9:25 AM ^
January 16th, 2014 at 8:28 AM ^
W's will cure alot of bad memories. If he comes in and the Lion's start winning, I can live with that.
January 16th, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
C'mon, you have to admit.....That would be something the Lions would do.
January 16th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
I know this is joke, but let's not all forget that Al Borges is not a bad OC. He has a track record of success everywhere he has been, including most of 2011. Yes, it didn't work out this year, but I think it was more a matter of talent and fit than Borges being purely incompetent.
Actually, Borges for the Lions might actually work. Think about what he could do with Stafford, Megatron, Bush & Bell, plus an OL that seemed to figure it out and play well this year.
January 16th, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
But I hope they hire JLS just to to help ease the pain of being from Michigan.
January 16th, 2014 at 10:53 AM ^
I wanted Austin to be the next DC in Ann Arbor when Mattison retired.
January 16th, 2014 at 1:54 PM ^
as the new Lions OC?
January 16th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
Don't really know much about him but hopefully he can turn our secondary into something consistent. Tired of seeing the long play given up.