It doesn’t sound like the Pittsburgh Steelers will go outside of the orfginzaion to find their new offensive coordinator to replace Randy Fichtner, who is not having his contract renewed by the team this offseason.
According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network on Saturday, the Steelers are expected to promote quarterback coach Matt Canada to offensive coordinator. Canada reportedly interviewed with the Miami Dolphins this week but is now expected to stay in Pittsburgh with the Steelers.
Canada, who was hired to be the Steelers quarterbacks coach exactly one year and one day ago, had some influence on the team’s offense in 2020 and especially when it came to the introduction of more pre snap motion.
Canada’s route to the Steelers included several stops at multiple college programs along the way. After starting off as a graduate coaching assistant at Indiana in 1994, Canada went on to coach at Butler, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, LSU and Maryland, where he was the interim head coach in 2018.
Throughout his college coaching career, Canada had mostly been an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In 2016 Canada was a finalists for the Broyles Award, an honor given to the top assistant coach in college football. That season he coached next door to the Steelers at the University of Pittsburgh and the team averaged a school-record 42 points per game with the school’s offense leading the nation in red-zone touchdown percentage (82%). Pittsburgh scored at least 28 points in all 12 regular-season games that season, including a 43-42 victory at eventual national champion Clemson.
If ultimately made official by the Steelers, 2021 would be Canada’s first season as an NFL offensive coordinator.
Canada being promoted to offensive coordinator would be yet another sign that veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will play out the final year of his current contract in 2021. It would also mean that Roethlisberger wouldn’t need to work with someone he’s never worked with before on the heels of Fichtner not being retained.
