For more than a week, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinators have been the city’s hot topic. The firing of Matt Canada, a franchise first. Replacing him with interim OC Eddie Faulkner and new play caller Mike Sullivan, still also serving as the team’s quarterbacks coach. So it’s as good a time as any to talk about the man who Canada once replaced, Randy Fichtner.
In a new book released only days ago, author John Harris, a former beat writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, offers a different look at Mike Tomlin. Tomlin: The Soul of a Football Coach walks through his life from his days playing wide receiver at William & Mary to moving up the college ranks to being hired by the Steelers in 2007 and leading the team the last 17 years.
The book is full of interesting stories about the men who molded Tomlin, especially in his younger days just starting out and finding his coaching footing, Tomlin nearly going to law school instead of pursuing football. In the final few chapters, Harris discusses Tomlin leading the Steelers through bumpy times. Handling Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, transitioning from the Ben Roethlisberger, and beyond. Included in those departures was OC Randy Fichtner. A decades-long friend who hired Fichtner in 2007 right after landing the Steelers’ job, Fichtner’s contract wasn’t renewed following the 2020 season. According to the book, the news came as a big surprise.
Harris spoke with Rip Scherer Jr., a former Memphis coach who is currently the head coach of an American football team in Madrid, Spain. He helped land jobs for Fichtner and Tomlin as they fought their way to stay in the coaching ranks. With Scherer’s urging, Memphis hired Fichtner as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2001 and he gave Tomlin an assistant job in 1996. Scherer, the cousin of former Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, knows all those men well. And he relayed Fichtner’s reaction to the team moving on from him. From Harris’ book:
“Rip Scherer Jr., who helped Tomlin and Fichtner get coaching jobs at Memphis and knew both men personally, said Fichtner was caught off guard when Tomlin let him go.
“‘Randy, he was shocked.’ Scherer said. “He went in. It was like, ‘Randy, I’ve got to do this.’ Bang, it was done.”
Four days after the team’s 2020 Wild-Card loss, an ugly 48-37 upset at home to the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers made significant changes to their coaching staff, not renewing the contracts of OL Coach Shaun Sarrett, DBs Coach Tom Bradley, and Fichtner (Scherer also had a close relationship to Bradley). In a statement, Tomlin thanked all three men but made special mention of Fichtner, referencing their friendship that began well before Pittsburgh.
On paper, some stats suggested the Steelers had a fine year, ranking 12th in points per game. But they also finished 24th in total yards, had the league’s worst run game, and ranked worse in more advanced metrics, like finishing 18th in points per drive. To those on the outside, Fichtner’s departure was less of a shock, though not the slam dunk Canada became.
Perhaps the biggest wrinkle to the decision was Fichtner’s close relationship with Roethlisberger. The two were some of the longest-tenured players and coaches in the building, Roethlisberger drafted in 2004, Fichtner hired in 2007, and he had served as Roethlisberger’s quarterbacks coach since 2010.
Though speculation on my part, Scherer’s phrasing of the conversation “I’ve got to do this,” begs the question if letting Fichtner go was purely Tomlin’s decision. Was it influenced by ownership coming off a bitter playoff defeat? Or did Tomlin realize the team needed to make some significant changes to shake up the organization?
There’s no question it was a difficult decision given how close Tomlin and Fichtner were. As Harris writes in the book, the two had known each other since 1997, exchanging phone numbers during a college recruiting trip they both happened to attend. The two would soon coach together, spending 1997 and 1998 at Arkansas State, Tomlin as the wide receivers and then defensive backs coach with Fichtner the offensive coordinator.
After leaving the Steelers, Fichtner has not coached again. It’s not clear if he’s retired or would entertain another job offer if one came his way.
Tomlin made another tough decision last Tuesday, firing Canada, whom he also had ties to (the book outlines the importance the University of Maryland had on Tomlin’s life, attending his first football camp under HC Bobby Ross while his brother, Ed, played safety for the Terps; later, Tomlin’s son Dino would attend there). Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan will finish the year running the offense with Tomlin searching for a permanent option for 2024. Perhaps it will be one of Faulkner or Sullivan or perhaps the team will look outside the organization. Whoever is chosen will be integral in molding the Steelers’ offense to the heights they were expected to reach this year.
If you’re interested in Harris’ book, here is a link to buy it. Though he did not talk to Tomlin, he interviewed many who knew him well including his brother, Scherer, Dallas Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, and former players like OL Willie Colon. And if you missed it, we interviewed Harris during the Wednesday episode of The Terrible Podcast, starting at the 29:00-minute mark.
Copyright © 2023 John Harris. Excerpted by permission of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
