Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler announces retirement

After 19 seasons on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ staff and the past seven as defensive coordinator, Keith Butler announced his retirement from coaching Saturday.

In a statement released by the team, Butler thanked the Rooney family, head coaches Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin as well as the scores of other coaches and players he has worked alongside since taking over as Steelers linebackers coach in 2003.

“It is an emotional day as I announce I am retiring from my football coaching career,” Butler said in the team statement. “I have spent every year since 1990 as a coach in the NFL and the NCAA, but the time is right for me to walk away after a successful career both playing and coaching the game I love.”

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Butler, 65, was the longest-tenured coach on the Steelers staff aside from assistant head coach John Mitchell, whose on-field role has been limited in recent years. Mitchell and Butler were the lone holdovers from the Cowher era, which ended when he resigned after the 2006 season.

Butler began his coaching career at his alma mater, Memphis State, in 1990 and spent the 1998 season at Arkansas State — where he met Tomlin — before moving on to the NFL permanently in 1999.

In a statement released by the Steelers, Tomlin said he and Butler “have remained close to this day. He helped me build some of the greatest defenses in the league during our time together in Pittsburgh, and I’m appreciative of his dedication and commitment to making our players better on and off the field.”

After spending the first four seasons with the Cleveland Browns after their rebirth, Butler moved to the division rival Steelers and hasn’t left since.

Butler took over for Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau as Steelers defensive coordinator in 2015. In his seven seasons as defensive coordinator, the Steelers finished in the top 10 in four consecutive seasons before dropping to No. 24 in 2021.

“He was a major contributor to some of our top defenses in the NFL during his coaching career,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “He helped us win two Super Bowls during his tenure, and he guided many All-Pro and Pro Bowl players as both our linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator.”

Butler was a position coach on the staffs that won the Super Bowl after the 2005 and ’08 seasons. Earlier this season, he noted that he would like to get a third Super Bowl ring because he could give one to each of his three sons. But the Steelers lost in the wild-card round for the second year in a row.

“I look forward to spending more time with my family, whom have been so supportive of me throughout the years,” said Butler, who played 10 NFL seasons as a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks. “I wish nothing but the best to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I will be cheering them on during my retirement.”

The Steelers did not immediately name a replacement, but an obvious favorite for the job is senior defensive assistant/secondary Teryl Austin. A Pitt alumnus and Sharon native, the highly respected Austin has five seasons of experience as an NFL defensive coordinator for two teams.

Saturday’s news was not entirely unexpected. Tomlin in his season-ending news conference Tuesday referenced that Butler had broached the topic of retirement.