The good news. The Pittsburgh Steelers are going outside the organization to hire their next offensive coordinator. It’s only the second offensive coordinator-related news universally celebrated by fans over the last three years (the other, firing Matt Canada).
The search is exciting. The chance to bring in a fresh mind, someone with new ideas, a new scheme, a chance to galvanize this dormant offense.
But this hire comes with pressures. Tons of it. Mike Tomlin, making up one-third of the decision-making alongside GM Omar Khan and Team President Art Rooney II, is about to make the most important hire of his Steelers’ tenure.
Truthfully, it’s a low bar. There haven’t been many “weighty” hires Tomlin and this organization’s had to make since 2007. Positional coaches are important, but they don’t carry the scrutiny or impact of a coordinator. Offensively, the Steelers have had the benefit of handing their new offensive coordinator Ben Roethlisberger, Super Bowl winner and future first-ballot Hall of Famer. For the past hires, the quarterback was known and, largely, very good. The coach and the scheme mattered less because Roethlisberger was going to play his game and make things happen.
Hiring Todd Haley was key to helping transition Roethlisberger’s game from Backyard Ben to Pocket Ben. But this is a different level. Fixing Kenny Pickett, 2024 a make-or-break year, or making things work with Mason Rudolph should he become the starter (assuming he re-signs, that is). That’s the mission. Pittsburgh’s in its roughest quarterback situation since 2003 when Tommy Maddox crashed back to Earth from his ’02 campaign, finishing the year with 17 interceptions as the Steelers fell to 6-10, their last losing season.
And defensively? There’s been less turnover there. Just three DCs under Tomlin: Dick LeBeau, Keith Butler, and Teryl Austin. With Tomlin assuming a large role in the defensive game planning and play calling, that hire’s always meant a little less.
It’s easy to think, “Give the OC a year” to figure things out. Implement his system, understand the players and people he’s working with, and the growing pains of installing a new system with a youthful offense, third-youngest in 2023. But that can’t happen. Not right now, not with this team. Pickett needs to turn the corner, or the Steelers will be forced to move on. And with an aging defense, the NFL’s oldest from that linked study, the time to capitalize is now. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game in seven years. Each season’s failure increases the weight of that drought.
Pittsburgh has to get this OC hire right, and they have to get it right fast. Yes, there will be early-season struggles. But they have to iron them out as quickly as possible and win despite them throughout the first month of the year. In this AFC North, there’s no time to fall behind or hit your stride over the final quarter, something they’ve done the last two years.
This offense can’t continue to stall and sputter. To rely on their defense to keep the score down to eke out a 17-14 victory. If they want to break their playoff drought, points must be put on the board. Players have to improve, and talent needs to be added, but the scheme has to elevate the group. For Tomlin, he has to show he can hire a competent offensive coordinator.
Understand he doesn’t have sole hiring power here, it sounds like Rooney will have a significant role, and I suspect he put his thumb on the scale to focus on an outside hire, taking Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan off the board. But Tomlin’s involved in the process. He and this organization can’t miss again. Get it right, get it right quickly, and make this offense into something at least respectable for 2024. No more excuses. Time for solutions.
