The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2020 season is now in the books, and it ended in spectacular fashion—though the wrong kind of spectacular—in a dismal postseason defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns, sending them into an early offseason mode after going 12-4 in the regular season and winning the AFC North for the first time in three years.
After setting a franchise record by opening the year on an 11-game winning streak, they followed that up by losing three games in a row, going 1-4 in the final five games, with only a 17-point comeback staving off a five-game slide. But all the issues they had in the regular season showed up in the postseason that resulted in their early exit.
The only thing facing them now as they head into 2021 is more questions, and right now, they lack answers. What will Ben Roethlisberger do, and what will they do with him? What will the salary cap look like? How many free agents are they going to lose? Who could they possibly afford to retain? Who might they part ways with—not just on the roster, but also on the coaching staff?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: How do you feel about the decision to hire Matt Canada as the team’s new offensive coordinator—assuming that that actually happens?
It was reported yesterday that the Steelers are expected to hire Matt Canada as their new offensive coordinator—or rather that they will promote him. The team brought him in this past season to serve as their quarterbacks coach after having spent many years at the college level as a coordinator.
Until there is an official announcement, it remains to be seen whether or not this actually takes place. The Steelers are also required to interview a minority candidate for the position under the new requirements of the Rooney Rule, which now extend to offensive coordinators, and there have been no reports of any interview taking place at all.
But let’s assume this happens. Did the Steelers make the right move? Will they regret it? at the very least, his hire represents the most ‘different’ decision that they have made in terms of running their offense in many years.
Todd Haley was an outside hire, technically speaking, but structurally speaking was not a radical departure from what they were familiar with. Canada is not going to be a ‘Fichtner’ disciple by any means, but presumably, he’s not going to scrap the offense, either. In a sense, it could work out as being the best of both worlds—familiarity with the offense, yet with a fresh perspective. Time will tell, of course.
