The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new head offensive line coach for their final two games of the regular season as assistant offensive line coach Chris Morgan has been given the reigns to the position group on the hells of Adrian Klemm leaving this week to take a job at Oregon. Understandably Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada was asked about Moore now taking over for Klemm for at least these next two games when he met the media on Thursday.
“I’m really happy for [Adrian] Klemm,” Canada said on Thursday. “I think, you know, it’s a tremendous opportunity for him and something he wanted to do. So, you know, I’m happy for his opportunity and obviously Coach [Mike Tomlin] made the decision to, you know, to kind of move on. But you know, Klemm and C-Mo [Chris Morgan] we’re very much seamless in there. They worked very well together. C-Mo’s just stepping in and doing that. [I] feel really good about where we are with that.”
While Morgan was hired by the Steelers during the offseason to be the team’s new assistant offensive line coach behind Klemm, it’s not like he is new to the NFL or being a head offensive line coach. After all, Morgan, who has coached in two Super Bowls so far in his career, is now in his 13th season as an NFL offensive line coach. Prior to be hired by the Steelers, he spent six years with the Atlanta Falcons. Morgan was also an assistant offensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks, Washington Football Team and Oakland Raiders prior to being with the Falcons. Canada spoke on Thursday about Morgan’s experience to date.
“Obviously, he’s got great experience,” Canada said of Morgan. “He’s got great knowledge. I think we’ve got a really good staff and good guys who work really hard. I think the players respond well to him as well. So, that’s why I feel really good about – you know, again, I wish Klemm the best and I’m so happy for him and it’s not like anything that way. It’s just, I feel like we’re in a good position, where in some cases it might be a real question. Like what are you going to do? How are you going do this? We don’t feel that way right now because of C-Mo’s experience. You know, what he’s done, how he came in here, how well he knows what we’re trying to do. And we feel like it’ll be very well received by our guys. It already has been.”
The Steelers offensive line is easily regarded as one of the worst in the NFL this season. That unit includes two rookies in center Kendrick Green and tackle Dan Moore Jr., and both have been starters all season and have logged a huge percentage of offensive snaps.
As the Steelers ready themselves for their final two regular season games, it will be interesting to see if Morgan can somehow impact the overall play of the offensive line. The team hopes to get left guard Kevin Dotson back this coming Monday night so maybe him returning will help some. It will also be interesting to see if Green starts on Monday night after another poor showing last Sunday. Green, who is currently working through a minor calf injury, might could be replaced by center/guard J.C. Hassenauer on Monday night.
