Former Coach Reveals Who Makes Steelers Draft Decisions

The Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history in Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau. Following up his legendary tenure in Pittsburgh has been an impossible task for his successors, but Keith Butler managed to find some success in the role. As the defensive coordinator between 2015 and 2021, he helped the team transition from the creative blitzing schemes of LeBeau to a turnover-focused defense.

Butler retired from his role with the Steelers in 2021, following 19 seasons with the organization. Teryl Austin has served in the role since, and there have been similar moments of brilliance and frustration with the defense's overall performance under his guidance. Recently, Butler spoke with Talegate Sports about his time in Pittsburgh and shared some insight into the draft process from an assistant coach's perspective.

"What you have to do as a coach is you gotta go in and, as a coordinator, I had to look at like 50 guys," he said. "In order to study those guys, you have to watch three or four games from their last year to see what kind of players they are and see what they do best and see what they struggle with or try to determine that. And then you go in and you stack the board. You try to put people up there that you want that you think fits we we do."

Working for the team for nearly two decades, Butler had plenty of chances to provide his input on the incoming rookie class. As the defensive coordinator, he had less of a say, but he described how the head coach and general manager work in tandem for the Steelers.

"It stops with the GM, but the Steelers anyway, the head coach got a big say," he explained. "And the head coach usually if he knows his assistants, he usually has a good idea about what they think too."

The exact system the Steelers utilize on draft day includes a greater collective of voices. The scouts do a ton of the heavy lifting, the owners have a strong say, and there are lots of other voices yapping for attention. Still, it's an exciting reveal to hear from a coach who was in the war room for the Steelers and to listen to some insight into the organization's draft methods.