Agent: Teryl Austin Had Sham Interview with Lions in 2018 after Jim Caldwell Firing

Eric Metz, the agent for Pittsburgh Steelers secondary coach Teryl Austin, alleged Wednesday that the Detroit Lions interviewed Austin for their vacant head coaching position in 2018 despite knowing they intended to hire Matt Patricia.

Austin was the Lions' defensive coordinator at the time, and the interview occurred following the firing of Jim Caldwell. Metz told Will Graves of the Associated Press: "[Former Lions general manager] Bob Quinn knew he was hiring Matt Patricia and used Teryl to comply with the Rooney Rule. Didn't work out well for the Lions. Never should've fired Jim Caldwell."

The Rooney Rule has been in place since 2003, and it currently requires NFL teams to interview at least two external candidates from historically excluded groups for vacant head coaching jobs.

Austin, who is Black, was Detroit's defensive coordinator from 2014 to 2017. Caldwell, who is also Black, was Detroit's head coach during those seasons and led the Lions to a 36-28 record and two playoff appearances in his four-year stint.

Despite that, the Lions fired Caldwell and hired Patricia, who went 13-29-1 in parts of three seasons before he was relieved of his duties.

Austin spent one season as defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals after the Lions hired Patricia, and he has been part of the Steelers' staff since 2019.

While Austin has had several head coaching interviews during his NFL career, he has yet to be hired. Austin can only speculate on why he has been passed over: "It always leaves you wondering what happened, why you didn't get it. You can’t say for sure [if race was a factor]. ... Maybe I'm not what the owners see when they look in the mirror and they see leadership positions."

Some teams still need to fill their head coaching positions, but Mike Tomlin of the Steelers is currently the only Black head coach in the NFL, and there are only three head coaches of color in all.

Brian Flores, who was fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins at the conclusion of the 2021 regular season despite back-to-back winning seasons, spoke out against alleged racial discrimination in the NFL head coach hiring process this week.

Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and its teams this week. As part of his filing, Flores mentioned the Lions' firing of Caldwell despite his success and the subsequent hiring of Patricia over Austin and other Black candidates as evidence of racism in the league's hiring practices.

Flores also included text messages sent to him by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as evidence that the Giants had chosen their head coach before interviewing him.

The timing of the texts is key since Belichick seemed to know Daboll was getting the Giants' job even though Flores hadn't interviewed yet.

Flores went through with the interview, but the Giants did indeed hire Daboll.

Austin's agent suggested he experienced something similar with the Lions in 2018, and it stands to reason that many more coaches from historically excluded groups could come forward with similar stories of NFL teams that were apparently going through the motions to satisfy the Rooney Rule.