The Los Angeles Rams are now looking for a new head coach after firing Jeff Fisher on Monday and several other teams are likely to be in the same boat in the coming weeks. Because of that, there’s already speculation that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley will be a candidate for one of the vacancies.
During his Tuesday interview on 93.7 The Fan, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was asked if Haley deserves to be a head coach once again.
“I think so,” Roethlisberger said. “Look at what he’s done here, we’ve had one of the top offenses in the league since he’s been here. And obviously, you don’t want to see a guy go that you’ve really developed a great relationship with and things are working with. But, you also understand that it’s a business and guys have to do what’s best for their families, so if indeed he left we would wish him nothing but the best.”
Roethlisberger’s response isn’t surprising in the least and while not asked about offensive line coach Mike Munchak potentially getting a second shot at being a head coach, I’m sure his response would have been a similar one.
Prior to becoming the Steelers offensive coordinator in 2012, Haley was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs for nearly three full seasons. While coaching the Chiefs, Haley compiled a 19–26 (.422) regular season record and was 0-1 in the playoffs. His time in Kansas City also included him reportedly claiming that the Chiefs organization bugged the offices at the team’s facility.
Late last season it was thought that Haley might be a strong candidate to become the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins but that obviously never came to fruition. However, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported this past January that it was his understanding that Haley told people he was not interested in any head coaching jobs this year and so there was no publicly stated interest in him.
Being as Haley is still only 49-tyears-old, I’m sure he’d probably like the opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL again. Depending on how the rest of the Steelers 2016 regular season ultimately plays out, he might get an interview or two and the same might go for Munchak as well. We’ll see.
As more and more head coaching jobs become available, you can probably expect Haley’s name to be tossed around as a potential candidate. Should Haley ultimately leave after the 2016 season, one would think that either Munchak or quarterback coach Randy Fichtner would be the top candidates to take over the offensive coordinator job in Pittsburgh.
