With Mike Tomlin poised to return in 2024, the biggest decision he’ll have to make this offseason comes one rung lower on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coaching staff. Who will be the team’s next offensive coordinator? After internal attempts of Randy Fichtner and Matt Canada, former Steeler and NFL offensive lineman A.Q. Shipley believes the call has to come from outside of the house.
“They need something outside the organization,” Shipley said Wednesday on the Pat McAfee Show. “They gotta go get something that’s creative, something different, something that brings a new energy. And I think if they can do that with some of the pieces they already have, you might infuse life back into that building.”
Of the Steelers’ last six offensive coordinators, five have been internal hires. Mike Mularkey went from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator for the 2001 season, lasting through 2003. Ken Whisenhunt did the same, tight ends coach to replacing Mularkey in 2004. He was succeeded by Bruce Arians, going from receivers coach to offensive coordinator when Tomlin was hired in 2007. Todd Haley became the exception, an outside hire when brought in for the 2012 season, and he had the longest tenure of this group, lasting six seasons.
Once the Steelers parted ways with Haley, they went back to the internal route with Fichtner from 2018-20 before tabbing Canada from 2021 until his firing post-Week 11 of 2023. The Steelers stayed in-house with Fichtner and Canada for continuity reasons. Fichtner had a close relationship with Ben Roethlisberger while the team didn’t want to install an outsider’s new system for 2021, Roethlisberger’s final year. And Canada was largely kept for 2023 to “benefit” Kenny Pickett, the team avoiding giving him two coordinators in two seasons. Of course, it arguably worked to his and the offense’s detriment and the Steelers admitted their mistake before the year ended, the first time they ever fired a coordinator midseason.
Interim OC Eddie Faulkner and QBs Coach/play caller Mike Sullivan will likely be part of the team’s interview process. Both have cases to become the permanent hire. Faulkner’s done a great job developing the Steelers’ running backs and been praised for his organization skills, leadership, and creativity. Sullivan comes with plenty of coordinator experience and has worked the closest with Pickett.
Still, Shipley’s points are accurate and he’s likely to get his wish. An outside hire is the most probable path the Steelers take. It’ll be a critical hire for Tomlin, who must get this one right. Who that man will be is anyone’s guess. Perhaps it’ll be someone with Pittsburgh ties, like the recently fired Alex Van Pelt, who made the Cleveland Browns’ depleted offense work on the way to a playoff berth (head coach Kevin Stefanski served as the team’s play caller but Van Pelt certainly made an impact). Or perhaps it’ll be someone with zero ties to the organization.
Pittsburgh figures to start that search soon and have its next choice made within a month. For reference, Haley, the only outside hire the last two decades, was announced in the first week of February 2012.
