It wasn’t much of a surprise as to who is going to be the next man to run the Steelers defense, as today the team made it official – LB coach Keith Butler is now running the show.
The long time LB coach agreed to a three-year deal, taking over for the departed Dick LeBeau, who came to a ‘mutual’ agreement to leave the team on Saturday.
“We are excited to announce Keith Butler as our defensive coordinator,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said in a statement released by the team. “Keith has been an integral part of our defensive game planning and schemes for several years and we look forward to him moving into the role of calling the defense. His passion and energy will be important to us taking the next steps to being one of the top defenses in the NFL.”
The 58-year-old Butler had been Pittsburgh’s linebackers coach since 2003.
“It’s the dream of a lifetime,” Butler said in the statement. “There are only 32 of these jobs on this Earth. I am excited about the opportunity and I look forward to getting this process started immediately.”
Butler has a long history with Tomlin; they worked together as assistants at Memphis in 1996.
It will be interesting to see what Butler can do – as he’s going to have to revamp a D that almost for sure will lose a number of vets like Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and Brett Keisel.
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