Matt Canada might as well be starring in Cheers. Because Pittsburgh is a place where everybody knows your name. Except no one is glad to see him. And like Norm, Canada could probably go for a stiff drink right now.
After the 2022 season, the Steelers decided to keep Canada as offensive coordinator. In part due to the continuity of the offense, not giving QB Kenny Pickett his second coordinator in as many years, and in part because Pittsburgh didn’t want to foot the bill of him getting paid to sit on the couch. With a contract that runs through the 2023 season, this season was make-or-break. So far, it’s been nothing but breaks, a broken-looking offense that can’t pass, throw, or gain a first down in the first quarter.
As of now, the prospects of Canada returning for the 2024 season with a new contract looks bleak. And at least one reporter believes there’s a chance Canada won’t make it to January with the team. Appearing on 93.7 The Fan with Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller, the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo left the door open for the Steelers making a midseason coordinator change.
“I do think if this lingers not just one more game, but if this continues for weeks and it doesn’t get any better, I could see them saying, ‘Hey, we’ll eat this remaining contract and, you know, we’ll have somebody else call to place for the rest of the season,'” Fittipaldo told The Fan. “It’s a lot easier to do that when the contract expires after the season’s over.”
To be clear, Fittipaldo was not reporting this is the Steelers’ plan or intention. It’s merely connecting the dots. Which is about the only thing connecting in Pittsburgh right now. Pickett has regressed through his first two weeks, barely completing 60 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Every offensive stat is bad. Basic ones, advanced ones, ones I just made up in my head (did you know their their expected run yards with Mercury in retrograde is 31st in football?). You get the point. It’s bad. Everyone knows it.
If the Steelers made an in-season coordinator change, it’d be a rare move. The only relatively recent examples that come close to that was Special Teams Coordinator Al Everest being relieved of his duties days ahead of the 2012 season and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. reportedly losing his role to assistant Shaun Sarrett in 2013. He finished out the season but fired after one year, presumably mid-contract. Defensive coordinator Tim Lewis was fired following the 2004 season but he finished out the year, though his contract did not expire.
Neither Todd Haley nor Randy Fichtner were officially fired. They were “parted ways with” to coordinate that big farm upstate with all the other coaches. Their contracts expired, the Steelers moved on, and the cycle repeated. Odds are, and Fittipaldo made mention of this, Canada will finish out the year as the team’s offensive coordinator and the team will replace him for 2024. At the least, him staying around takes some of the heat off Pickett and the rest of the offense, who aren’t playing much better than Canada is coordinating.
