The NFL’s two Southern California teams are considering a coordinator from Detroit for head coach.
Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin will interview with both the Rams and the Chargers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. The interviews are expected to take place on Sunday or Monday, after the Lions’ Saturday night playoff game at Seattle.
Austin has received head-coaching interest after all three of his seasons as the Lions’ defensive coordinator, although interest seemed to drop off as the quality of the Lions’ defense dropped off from his very strong debut season in 2014. Austin, who is black, has had a total of eight head-coaching interviews, although he’s said he thinks two of his interviews were conducted by teams that weren’t really considering him for the job and were only interviewing him to satisfy the Rooney Rule.
The 51-year-old Austin spent time as an assistant with the Seahawks, Cardinals and Ravens, as well as a year as defensive coordinator at Florida, before the Lions hired him.