Patrick Graham
Patrick Graham
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ coaching staff is significantly different in 2026 than it was in 2025. One of the biggest changes comes at defensive coordinator, where Patrick Graham is taking charge of a unit that played under Mike Tomlin for many years. Although the defense struggled more towards the end of Tomlin’s tenure, those are still big shoes for Graham to fill.
Which puts him under a bit of a spotlight going into Week 1, according to Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac.
“Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. Of all the coaches McCarthy hired, Graham is under the most pressure to prove Mike Tomlin’s defense was either better than what people thought or worse than what they thought,” Dulac wrote Wednesday in his weekly chat with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
There are a lot of positives around Graham coming into the building. Fans have found ways to talk about them all offseason. Many felt that Tomlin and Teryl Austin’s defense was growing stale over the last couple of years. Graham brings new ideas and a more flexible mindset, which feels like a breath of fresh air.
But it still has to translate on the field. Patrick Graham has never led an elite defense as a coordinator. And while he has much more talent in Pittsburgh than he has in his other stops, something he recognizes, Graham is still going to have to make it work. He won’t have all his pieces healthy to start the year, either.
Jaquan Brisker, Jalen Ramsey and Joey Porter Jr. have all returned to practice. But each missed plenty of time due to injuries during camp. Plus, DeShon Elliott is starting the year on injured reserve as the Steelers remain thin at safety. There simply haven’t been many reps with everyone on the field at once, which is a little worrisome as the unit learns a new scheme. The hope is that the Steelers are deep enough up front to help keep things calm as the secondary gets its feet wet.
Throughout his career as a defensive coordinator, Graham’s gotten the most out of rather talentless defenses. Now he’s facing higher expectations in Pittsburgh. Expectations that are greater than any that the rest of the coaching staff has to deal with, according to Dulac. Patrick Graham will get his first look at his new defense on Sunday against Atlanta.