Keith Butler informed the team he is retiring

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Defenses under Tomlin....https://www.pro-football-reference.c...es/TomlMi0.htm

Not shabby.

Agreed, but the Tomlin haters are gonna spin things that he needs to give up his input or playcalling or whatever it is that he does on the Defensive side of the ball. Just think of how sensible that is that fans with little or no technical knowledge of defensive football gameplanning or play calling, have a better idea of what successful NFL coaches should be doing.

- - - Updated - - -

At some point it needs to be asked why Butler kicked this particular rock over. He could've just said typical coach cliches in his interviews. But it appeared he took to the local sports radio interview circuit with the goal of getting this "information" out there. One has to wonder why?

The pessimist in me says it so Butler can take credit for the positives and avoid blame for the negatives and burnish his legacy a bit. Not uncommon upon retiring to try and frame the narrative about your career in the most positive light.

The optimist in me says its just Butler musing out loud about this or that and it really doesn't have an agenda behind it. Provides context to the answer of who he thinks will succeed him as DC.

I think its a bit of both. He wants people to know that he was the DC and gameplanning, but that Tomlin made calls and some of those 4th quarter collapses by the defense......wasnt me. But at the same time just talking out loud about Austin getting a shot because he knows the framework of gamplanning during the week, but not making calls.

At the end of the day, if Austin is the DC, then I am OK with it. I dont think there needs to be a radical change in defensive structure, but the talent needs to be better and younger.