The Steelers hired Brian Flores to be a part of the defensive staff. Will it signal a fundamental shift for the defense?
When the Steelers hired Brian Flores, I immediately had a few thoughts about what his presence could and perhaps would mean for the defense in 2022 and beyond. I guess that remains to be seen, but I think it’s fair to say that at the very least, we instantly improved the level of experience on the defensive side of the ball.
The fact that we were able to hire a former NFL head coach to be a position coach speaks volumes for the tradition the Steelers have of quality assistant coaches who eventually have gone on to become head coaches.
That is not to say that Flores will become a head coach again, but it certainly looks good for us and for him, quite frankly, that he is part of the Steelers organization at least for the 2022 season. The real question, in my opinion, is this: Could Flores bring an element to the Steelers defense that would catapult us from being a good defense to becoming a great defense?
The Steelers may see a shift in defensive philosophy in 2022
So when I said that the Steelers may see a fundamental shift on defense with the hiring of Flores, here’s what I meant by that: We have run a base 3-4 defense since 1982. I remember this vividly and I remember thinking that the days of the ‘Steel Curtain’ had come to an end once we made the transition.
For the entire decade of the 1970s when we were winning Super Bowls at a ‘nice clip’, we ran a base 4-3 defense. After the retirements of most of the stalwarts of the ‘Steel Curtain’, we decided to go to a base 3-4 alignment.
Our base defense is still 3-4 to this day. I cannot help but think that with the hiring of Flores and with the promotion of Teryl Austin to defensive coordinator, the Steelers defense may experience changes in both philosophy and alignment in 2022.
I don’t think we will abandon the 3-4 base alignment but I can foresee a scenario where we deploy a true 4-3 option in short-yardage situations. Since we were terrible at stopping the run in 2021, I don’t think it would necessarily be a bad thing to have another formation at our disposal to stop the run.
Could we also see a shift in how we play coverage? I don’t think it’s a secret that we have a predilection to play ‘single high’, man-to-man defense, which is great when it works. When it doesn’t work, we generally give up a big play.
Could we see a return to the old ‘fire zone’ that Steelers fans were accustomed to seeing when Dick LeBeau was the defensive coordinator? I’m sure we still have elements of the ‘fire zone’ in the current defensive scheme, but I think it was more prevalent under LeBeau than it has been in recent years.
Considering both Flores and Austin coached teams that ran either a 4-3 base or a hybrid-type of defense, could those philosophies permeate the Steelers defense? I think it’s certainly a possibility. I think the question is this: Will Mike Tomlin allow his newly hired position coach and newly promoted defensive coordinator to alter the defense to fit their philosophies or will it be much of the same that Steelers fans have seen in recent years?
Only time will tell.