Teryl Austin knew he had no chance to get Detroit Lions head coach job

Teryl Austin was the first of six people to interview for the Detroit Lions head coaching job after the season, but even he knew he didn't have much chance to get the job.

"I interviewed in Detroit, but it probably wasn’t going to happen because of what happened to us as a staff," Austin said during the news conference to introduce him as Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator on Thursday.

The Lions still have not hired a coach, but Austin withdrew himself from the running to replace Jim Caldwell when he accepted a position with the Bengals this week.

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The Lions remain in a holding pattern as their search reacheds its 11th day.

New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia remains the favorite for the job, though he reportedly would prefer the New York Giants job.

The Lions also have interviewed Houston Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel, Green Bay Packers associate head coach Winston Moss, Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and in-house candidate Jim Bob Cooter.

Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who the Lions requested permission to speak with last week, does not currently have an interview scheduled with the Lions.

Austin, 52, led the Lions defense for the last four seasons, when the team earned two wildcard spots.

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The Lions had the NFL's second-ranked defense in 2014, his first season as coordinator, and finished third in the league in takeaways this year.

A popular head-coaching candidate in recent seasons, Austin had head-coaching interviews with 10 different teams during his time in Detroit. Two years ago, he said he felt like two of the interviews he had after the 2015 season were done only to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach and general manager jobs.

At his news conference Thursday, Austin said those comments were "how I felt about that particular year, ... and I thought at the time there were some interviews that weren’t — I didn’t put my best foot forward, how’s that? Best way to say it."

"Sometimes you can tell when things are good, and some of those interviews, it wasn’t cause of the Rooney Rule (that I didn't get the job), it was cause I didn’t do very well," Austin said. 'But other times you could tell that it was just, 'Hey, we're going to check this box and we’re going to move on.' But I think moving forward, that if I have another opportunity, and if things work out that ... I deserve to get one, I’ll get one. If not, I’ll move on, I’ll coach the guys the best way I can and go from there."

The Lions satisfied the NFL's Rooney Rule requirements with not only their interview of Austin, but with their interview of Moss as well.

In Cincinnati, Austin takes over a defense that ranked 18th in the NFL this season but finished 30th against the run.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he mentioned to Austin the possibility of working together on a coaching staff before the Bengals' win over the Lions on Christmas eve.

The Bengals scored 10 points in the final 4:42 of that game to knock the Lions out of playoff contention.

"Prior to our game this year against Detroit, I told him to stay in touch," Lewis said. "It's just unfortunately the profession we're in. And I'm glad it's worked out, and obviously the big thing was his opportunity to possibly become a head coach in the NFL, and going to be. Was waiting for that one way or another to break and hopefully, I know that will occur in his future. And that's the exciting. And hopefully we have great success immediately and he gets that opportunity."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!