The list of candidates for the Falcons’ defensive coordinator spot continues to grow. Steelers secondary coach Grady Brown will interview for the position today, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. The team has since announced the meeting has taken place. 
Brown spent time with the Seahawks and Chiefs as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship in 2004 and ’07, respectively. That was followed by a lengthy college coaching tenure; from 2009-19, Brown worked at LSU, Southern Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisville and Old Dominion. He spent much of that time working with defensive backs.
In 2021, Brown was hired by the Steelers to serve as the team’s secondary coach. He has remained in that capacity ever since, working with a unit currently highlighted by cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Pittsburgh ranked third in the league in interceptions in 2024, keeping in line with the team’s recent success with respect to forcing turnovers. While the Steelers finished 25th against the pass this past year, Brown’s work has landed him on the radar of at least one coordinator gig.
Atlanta had Jimmy Lake in place as DC for the 2024 campaign, the first with Raheem Morris as head coach in his return to the team. Lake guided the unit to a 23rd-place finish in total and scoring defense, though, and he was dismissed after the campaign. Several candidates have received a look in the search for his replacements.
Lou Anarumo (formerly of the Bengals), Don Martindale (in place at Michigan after multiple NFL gigs), Jeff Ulbrich (who finished 2024 as interim Jets head coach), Derrick Ansley (pass game coordinator for the Packers) as well as Steve Wilks (longtime NFL coach) have already interviewed with Atlanta this week. Brown’s name is the sixth on the list of contenders for the position, although finalists will likely not be known until a second round of interviews is conducted.
So the Defense becomes “The Grady Bunch”??
Damn 17 seasons later and Tomlin might finally start a coaching tree. It’s good when after all that time no one tries to hire away any of your home grown assistants right? RIGHT? If anyone is unsure why he’s not a good coach look no further in an age where some coaches can’t keep coordinators long enough to maintain continually because they achieve beyond expectation; Tomlin’s coordinators are yes men and when a scapegoat is occasionally needed to appease the fan base he just promotes from within and the one let go can’t get a high school job. I’ll eat my words if he goes elsewhere and succeeds (wins playoffs games) but anyone actually watching him since the mid 2010s can tell you he’s the Andy Dalton of coaches. Some standard.
You seem bitter about something.
And yet, he’s exactly right
I’m at a loss as to why any NFL team is interviewing Artie Smith for a head coach position or this guy as a DC after that train wreck of a season or rather, those last 5 games where they looked like a Pop Warner team playing a few levels up
Yeah having a politician as a head coach and an enabling owner will make you salty when results are so milquetoast. Seems to be the norm coming out of Pittsburgh sports. I’d of been fired if I failed at delivering in my job the same way Tomlin has and I get paid substantially less with hardly the amount of exposure. The regular season is for losers. The playoffs make you a legend.
No one on the Steelers staff deserves a job lol