Media appearances are still rather few and far between for the Steelers’ new coaching staff under Mike McCarthy, but Pittsburgh’s new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham gave a short sit-down interview with Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews on Friday, where he revealed why he came to the Steelers, as well as his opinions and philosophy for the defense entering 2026.
Matthews asked Graham what he was most excited about when it came to the Steelers’ defensive roster.
“The size,” he said. “This is what you envision in terms of your defense to look like. … I’m not a small guy, but they just dwarf me, and I’m like, ‘Yes, this is exactly what I want it to look like.’”
Graham also added some more context on why the Steelers’ new coaching staff would be sticking with the 3-4 defense. He emphasized keeping things familiar for the defense.
“It’s so much easier for myself and the coaching staff — because we’re lesser in numbers — we can learn the language as opposed to having all 45 of these guys learning the language as we go,” he said. “So, wherever we can keep it consistent — because it’s been successful here. … Whatever we can use (that’s) the same, we’ll go ahead and use the same.”
Graham also spoke about the Steelers coaching staff and his history with several of the names. He has coached both against and alongside McCarthy in the past.
“I just admired how he sequenced the game as an offensive play-caller,” he said of facing McCarthy. “That really stuck with me.”
“How organized, and how thought out everything is,” he later said about what he noticed about McCarthy when both were in Green Bay. “He’s able to see ahead and anticipate things.”
Graham also has ties with much of the Steelers’ new coaching staff. With the Packers in 2018, Graham worked alongside now-Steelers coaches James Campen, Frank Cignetti Jr., Brian Angelichio, Mark Lovat, Grant Thorne, Joe Whitt Jr., Jason Simmons, and Scott McCurley. He also recently coached with new Steelers special teams senior assistant Derius Swinton II with the Raiders in 2025.
“I love the fact that a few of us have worked together before, and then some of the guys have worked together away from me for a long time, so there’s some familiarity there,” Graham said.
“We all know how to work around each other in terms of, everyone knows in the morning, I need my time,” he quipped.
Graham spoke to the importance of the coaching staff bringing energy to the Steelers’ facility: “There’s no moping around in the building,” he said.
Matthews and Graham finished up the interview by talking about the latter’s “grinding” mentality.
“We stay in the office however long we gotta stay in the office to get work done, but really, the grind part is trying to find the edge,” Graham said. “Can I find the edge — not selfishly, but for the players.”
Graham also offered his thoughts on the term “player’s coach.”
“I always think it’s funny when people are like, ‘Who’s a player’s coach?’” he said. “The people that grind and try to find the information for the player to help them play better on Sunday — if I was a player, that’s what I’d want as my ‘player’s coach.’”