To be clear, no decision on Todd Haley’s future has been made yet. But knowing his contract is up and Mike Tomlin’s non-defense of him yesterday, he might be circling the drain. Should Haley not be retained, it sounds like QBs coach Randy Fichtner will be his replacement.
That comes from Sporting News’ Alex Marvez, who passes this word along.
It’s a logical answer that we’ve discussed about already on here. Bringing in an outsider to run the offense would be a big risk. Putting in a brand new offense in Ben Roethlisberger’s final 1-3 years, a point where the offense is as good as anyones and doesn’t need to start over. Rebuilding that and going through the growing pains of a new offense is frankly, a bad idea.
Roethlisberger and Fichtner have a good relationship and it’s widely known he asked Fichtner to come down from the press box and onto the sidelines midway through the season. He was one of Mike Tomlin’s first hires, brought on to be the receivers coach in 2007 before becoming the QB coach after Ken Anderson retired. Tomlin and Fichtner worked together at Arkansas State in the late 90s.
Expect a decision on Haley’s future before the Pro Bowl, where the Steelers will be coaching. It certainly looks possible a change will be made. If so, the transition should be relatively seamless.
