It’s now officially official, the Pittsburgh Steelers have moved on from offensive coordinator Todd Haley as they have chosen not to renew his expiring contract.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin released a short statement moments ago on the team’s website announcing his decision to move on from Haley, who had been the offensive coordinator since 2012.
I have made the decision to not renew the contract for offensive coordinator Todd Haley. I would like to thank Todd for his contributions to our offense the past six years, and we wish him the best in his coaching future.
Short, sweet and to the point.
You could see this move coming from a mile away as Haley and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn’t appear as though they could coexist any longer. The Steelers decision to bring quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner down from the coaches box on game days to serve as a buffer between Roethlisberger and Haley around the middle of the season was further evidence that there was definitely some tension between the two men.
Like it or not, Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense made progress while Haley was the team’s offensive coordinator. The quarterback started getting rid of the football quicker and as a result of that he was sacked much less. With that said, there were still a lot of inconsistencies with the Steelers offense under the guidance of Haley. Several times the offense would start games off slow before finally finding footing and rhythm. Red zone scoring also failed to be very consistent.
In each season from 2014-17, the Steelers offense finished in the top-10 in yards and points, per former Steelers PR staffer Ryan Scarpino.
We must now sit and wait until the decision is made as to who will replace Haley and Fichtner, who has been with the team since 2007, appears to be the leading candidate to do so.
The Steelers next offensive coordinator will be the third different one that Tomlin has had since he arrived in 2007 and the fourth different one that Roethlisberger has worked under.
