From a practical perspective, priority number one for the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason is finding a new offensive coordinator. It could quite possibly be the biggest decision left in head coach Mike Tomlin’s career. He simply must get it right this time.
Which makes his comments yesterday all the more notable. In so many words, he said that the Steelers are looking for an outside hire who has prior coordinating experience. That had not been his pattern with Randy Fichtner and Matt Canada.
Suffice it to say that the players are rather interested in finding out who the new offensive coordinator is going to be, as well. Even DL Cameron Heyward discussed the topic on his Not Just Football podcast, and while he tossed a few names out there, he did it in the most general sense. More important were the qualities the next coach ought to possess.
“It’s got to be a guy that’s gonna be able to get a lot of guys involved and lead that group”, he said, something that had been an issue under Canada. Spreading the ball around had become a weekly topic whenever he met with the media. Particularly when it comes to getting the ball to WR George Pickens.
“There’s a lot of talent there. And it’s about marrying that all together, letting that team grow”, Heyward said. “Letting that side of the ball grow. I think we all see that both sides of the ball have to continue to grow and to just keep evolving”.
Well, that certainly was one of the problems with Canada’s offense. It never evolved. For that matter, nor did Fichtner’s. Both of them talked about adjusting to their personnel and to their opponents, but how often did that ever seem apparent on the field?
The last coordinator of genuine significant experience the Steelers hired was Todd Haley, and he was the most successful of Tomlin’s non-inherited hires, even if you want to argue that Bruce Arians was better. And yet even those who do argue that usually acknowledge it was also time for him to go.
Heyward, who issued something of a warning when speaking about a comment made by teammate Diontae Johnson about Mason Rudolph, reiterated that players shouldn’t try to act as general managers. But it’s impossible not to be aware of the landscape given the Steelers’ vacancy at offensive coordinator.
“You look out there, there’s a guy like Eric Bieniemy, who’s had a lot of success in Kansas City”, he said, speaking of general names that had been in the leaguewide coordinator discussion. “Shane Waldron, [Bobby] Slowik. But you don’t know. I don’t like to play GM, but there are some interesting names out there. We’ll see”.
Bieniemy’s name had been on the short list for offensive coordinator jobs for years. He currently occupies a dual coordinator and assistant head coach role for the Washington Commanders, who now have a head-coaching vacancy. Slowik is the coordinator of the Houston Texans, hired in 2023, who managed C.J. Stroud through his fantastic rookie season. Waldron has been with the Seattle Seahawks for three seasons as coordinator and helped resurrect Geno Smith’s career.
When is the last time anybody has mentioned the name of a Steelers offensive coordinator in a general discussion like this in a positive way? When will that ever happen again?
