The Steelers hired former Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to take over the same role in Pittsburgh under new head coach Mike McCarthy in 2026. The Steelers will be the 47-year-old coach’s fourth different stop as a coordinator since 2019; before Las Vegas, he led the defenses of the Miami Dolphins (2019) and New York Giants (2020-21).
With the Raiders, Graham’s defense ranked 14th in yards per game allowed and 25th in points per game allowed in 2025. In 2024 and 2023, they posted similar
numbers but were a top-10 scoring defense in 2023.
Graham is well-respected in NFL media circles, but he hasn’t exactly been a part of a high-level team in recent years. That’s made him a tough evaluation. To gain more insight, I chatted with Matt Holder, a writer for SB Nation’s Raiders site Silver and Black Pride, to gather what Graham will be bringing from his last stop to his newest one. You can read my questions and his answers below:
1. First off, how would you describe the fundamentals of Graham’s coaching style and defensive scheme?
Matt Holder: One of the things I appreciated about Graham is that he wasn’t stuck in his ways and exclusively ran one type of defense. When Graham first got hired in Las Vegas, he talked about how he tries to adapt his defense to the player’s strengths. So, he’s pretty flexible and it’s hard to say what his “scheme” truly is. That has its downfalls because the unit might lack an identity, but he is decent at putting the right guys in the right spots to succeed.
For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to last year’s scheme to get a feel for Graham. Pete Carroll’s fingerprints were all over the Raiders’ defense, leaning way too heavily on Cover 3. Like any defensive coordinator, Cover 3 is a big part of Graham’s playbook, but not nearly to the extent that it was last season. The 2024 or 2023 tape and data will tell you more about his tendencies.
2. The current narrative around Graham has been that he constantly overachieved — or at least, put together a noble effort — despite dealing with subpar defensive talent at his coordinator stops over his career. Would you agree?
MH: Definitely. The Raiders routinely had more talent and money spent on offense than defense during Graham’s tenure, and he had them finishing in the top half of the league for yards allowed in each of the last three seasons. Granted, they ranked 25th in points allowed in each of the last two years, but that had a lot to do with the Raiders’ quarterbacks turning the ball over in their own territory.
The 2023 defense was especially impressive, ranking 15th in yards and ninth in points allowed despite lacking talent on that side of the ball. Also, heading into this past season, I thought the Raiders were going to give up 30-plus points a game with how bad the personnel was. But Graham surprised me and actually got decent production, considering he was working with a bunch of cast-offs from other teams.
3. What is Patrick Graham’s greatest strength as a coordinator?
MH: I’d say his ability to create negative plays in the running game. As bad as the Raiders were in 2025, they ranked fourth in yards per carry allowed and had nine players record five or more tackles for loss. Graham does a good job of mixing up his fronts, and using stunts, slants and blitzes to create confusion for opposing offensive lines. That allowed Las Vegas’ front seven to get penetration and create havoc in the backfield.
4. Greatest weakness?
MH: Creating turnovers. Part of this is tied to the personnel, but the Raiders consistently ranked in the bottom half of the league in interceptions under Graham. As good as he is at disguising and varying the looks in the trenches, he isn’t nearly as creative in the secondary and runs a lot of soft zone coverage to lean on the “bend but don’t break” strategy. Graham will rotate safeties now and again, but it’s usually pretty obvious pre-snap when that’s happening. Don’t expect to see many exotic coverages that have quarterbacks guessing.
5. Are there any Las Vegas free agents on the defensive side of the ball you could see following Graham to Pittsburgh this offseason?
MH: Maybe Elandon Roberts heads back to Pittsburgh after a year away? LOL. To be honest, the Raiders had so much turnover on defense during his tenure that it’s hard to say there was a true “Graham guy” or guys.
That being said, defensive end Malcolm Koonce is one name to keep an eye on. Graham joined the team the year after Koonce was drafted, so they’ve spent four seasons together, and the pass-rusher had a career-year in 2023 with eight sacks. However, a torn ACL right before the 2024 campaign has impacted his development.
Also, going back to his days with the New York Giants and working with Jabrill Peppers (RB note: Peppers is an impending Steelers free agent), Graham is known for having a strong safety/linebacker hybrid type of player in his defense. Jamal Adams is a free agent and technically converted to linebacker last season, but he fits that mold and filled the role with the Raiders in 2025.
You can check out Matt’s analysis of the Raiders here.
