It took a while for Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to get off the sinking ship, but today the Pittsburgh Steelers leaked the impending hiring of Graham as their new defensive coordinator. Graham will join the staff of new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy, who is replacing Mike Tomlin after the Pittsburgh legend’s two-decade run.
The report came from Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with the wording saying that the Steelers are “close” to hiring Graham.
Graham’s had an intriguing coaching journey lately, but he once had stability in his career path. He cut his teeth working for the New England Patriots from 2009-2015, according to Simmons, and he moved on to coach the New York Giants defenisve line from 2016-17. After that he joined up with McCarthy at Green Bay to coach Green Bay’s linebackers and serve as run game coordinator.
His run with the Raiders hasn’t been nearly as smooth, unfortunately. Graham was brought in at Las Vegas by former coach Josh McDaniels, who new Graham from his time in New England, and McDaniels is now back in that role for the Patriots as they prepare for the Super Bowl.
Graham was retained by former Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, and he also survived Pierce’s firing to be retained by newly-fired coach Pete Carroll. It’s a dizzying array of changes, and Graham is undoubtedly hoping for more stability in Pittsburgh.
The fact that Graham was retained through multiple coaching changes speaks to his experience, but his Raiders defense was sorely challenged with Las Vegas this year. The Raiders had stretches and games where their defense wasn’t bad, but the unit also struggled mightily once the situation went south, and most of the Raiders defensive numbers ranked at or near the bottom of the league.
Will he have more luck in Pittsburgh? Probably, but Graham is once again entering a situation where the offensive struggles have affected a unit with the potential to be a prime defense. That’s part of why Tomlin retired, and that’s what Graham will be walking into with McCarthy, but at least he landed on his feet in a different organization this time around.
The physical talent is there, but it remains to be seen if McCarthy can elevate the Steelers past their current status as a team that barely makes it into the playoffs but can’t win a game.