Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Juan Thornhill opened up on his brief tenure with the Steelers. Let’s just say, Thornhill wasn’t fond of defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
“I didn’t enjoy playing for that DC,” Thornhill replied to a fan on TikTok.
The Steelers graded out 17th in the league in points allowed and 26th in yards allowed last season. If Mike Tomlin didn’t resign after the season, Austin probably would’ve been fired.
Added during the offseason as part of a Steelers secondary makeover, Thornhill played in nine game for the Steelers and made one start at free safety, but found himself out of a job after the Steelers moved Jalen Ramsey to that position.
Tomlin explained why Thornhill was first benched and then released as the Steelers claimed rookie Sebastian Castro on waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“The play (by Thornhill) wasn’t up to snuff,” Tomlin said. “And Castro was available to us, and we went through the team development process with Castro. We thought he had a good camp, good preseason, and he played his tail off in that practice against the Bucs. That’s why they stole him from us and we had an opportunity to reacquire him. It was an opportunity to get him back.”
Thornhill made one start for the unit, against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2, and played every defensive snap in the 31-17 loss. Thornhill’s defensive participation dipped the next week at New England, with defensive coordinator Teryl Austin using Chuck Clark and Jabrill Peppers in the 21-14 win.
Over the next two matchups, Thornhill played 65.8% of the team’s defensive snaps in Ireland against the Minnesota Vikings and 86.6% against the Cleveland Browns, the team that cut him loose following last season.
Thornhill signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad after his release from the Steelers. He remains a free agent heading into the 2026 season.
Austin is now a senior defensive assistant with the Arizona Cardinals.
Alan Saunders contributed.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former Steelers Safety Blasts Teryl Austin: ‘I Didn’t Enjoy Playing for That DC’
